California garage rock’s golden boy, Ty Segall, is back on the circuit, unfettered and rejuvenated, touring his 15th studio album, “Three Bells.” The album, released in early 2024, breathes new life into the musician’s substantial discography, breaking conventions as only a master of his craft can. On his U.S. tour, the SoCal native will play Tucson, stopping at 191 Toole on Friday, April 19.
Sonically, “Three Bells” picks up where Segall’s last record, 2022’s “Hello Hi,” left off. “Three Bells” builds on the minimal and strictly acoustic sound of “Hello Hi,” expanding its musical palette to include full-bodied instrumentals and a pulsing drum beat throughout, which guided much of his songwriting.
“I wanted to keep going and make really big songs, but centered around the acoustic,” he said. “It turned into a bit of a progressive situation.”
The expansive 15-track album breaks bounds as Segall strays and reinvents what song structure can become.
Thematically, the album is a thesis on selfhood, reflecting on growth, fear and ego — matters Segall has tumbled with for much of his career.
“(The album) was me trying to get as deep into that and as far along with that conversation as I could,” he said. “I feel like I hit a good endpoint with this record with those topics, at least for a minute.”
Making an album is far from a solitary endeavor. Segall recorded the album at his home studio in Topanga Canyon along with a gaggle of collaborators, including his wife, Denée Segall, who worked on five tracks. The couple have worked together on past projects, including as members of the band the C.I.A. Co-producer Cooper Crain, who worked on “Harmonizer” and “Hello Hi,” engineered and mixed most of the album. Along with Emmett Kelly on bass, Segall was accompanied by the Freedom Band.
“I need to collaborate with people to feel balanced,” he said. Working with his wife provides the material with a “unique voice — different from hers and mine,” Segall explained.
Since 2008, Segall, a leading figure in the psych-influenced garage rock scene in California in the early aughts, has produced over a dozen solo albums along with a handful of outside projects as part of bands like Fuzz, The Traditional Fools, GØGGS and The C.I.A. His work has helped define garage punk while delving into hard rock, heavy metal, folk-rock, synths and stripped-back acoustics.
At 15 tracks and 66 minutes, the album is one of Segall’s lengthiest. Tunes twist and turn, weaving seamlessly into the next. The first two tracks, “The Bell” and “Void,” are among Segall’s favorite songs on the album. “They are the thesis statement, the one-two punch of the record,” he explained. For example, in “The Bell,” the rhythm continuously shifts, forcing a relinquishing of control as the song evolves from gently tempered to riotous and galloping. Introducing the album’s central concept, he sings, “To realize/To be alive/The point where we begin and die/There is no separation/My three bells, inside.”
The album title, like the rest of the album, is shrouded in mystery. “It’s cooler to leave it a bit more abstract,” Segall said. “Not much needs to be said of the album; the music speaks for itself. Anything I could say is secondary to the actual experience of listening to it. The same thing goes for our live show. I try to let the experience be the number one thing.”
Ty Segall
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, April 19
WHERE: 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Avenue, Tucson
COST: $28.50
INFO: rialtotheatre.com
