Ty Segall

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Ty Segall is back with Love Rudiments, an instrumental album of percussive music in the throes of passion, out August 30 via Drag City. Following his sprawling double album Three Bells earlier this year, Love Rudiments is an album-length journey over the emotional rainbow of a love affair — a trip through Ty’s psyche that plunges him into uncharted musical (and sentimental) depths.

Love Rudiments is a meditation by Ty Segall on his first love: the drums. Known popularly as a singing guitar player, Ty generally starts the recording of his songs by laying down a drum track. Love Rudiments kicks off with drums and percussion, then adds a few other percussive and production aspects. It travels a great journey in this configuration — far past the notion of being some kind of solo drums album with vibes (figurative as well as literal), feels, a theme and a through-line. With no words or singing of any kind, Ty’s made a record that rides the wild surf of a waxingthen-waning love affair — from the first blinding look, to the eventual recognition that looks back at love’s rudiments, viewed from beyond and outside that seemingly infinite sensation. And why not? Drums are a melodic instrument too. Ty plays them with precision and sensitivity, delving deep into the textures of timpani, vibraphone, xylophone, percussion and e-drums, all of them occupying space within the luxe stereo spread of the drumkit. In the process, a psychological space is opened: a private emotional location where only two can meet.

The album's lead single, “The Dance (Edit)”, is an excerpt from one of four song cycles that comprise Love Rudiments. The song manifests a range of moods found in the couple’s first dance — attraction, anxiety, arousal, and convergence — expressed on the kit, vibraphone, tambourine, wood blocks, and electronic drum pads by Ty. The track sits smack dab in the middle of the percolating “Getting Ready” and the fervor of “First Touch”, each forming musical evocations of these intuitive, emotional moments of life.

Love Rudiments re-embodies the passion and compulsion that drives all of Ty Segall’s music, in a suite of moments played on orchestral batterie to explore the most delicate passages of human interaction. Encounter the revelations of Love Rudiments on August 30, 2024, and see Ty perform this year and next with these solo acoustic guitar shows (with vocals, yes — but not a drum in sight!).