At this point in his increasingly eclectic career, it seems preposterous to call Ty Segall a garage-rocker, the label that’s stuck to him ever since he blasted out of Laguna Beach in a flurry of fuzz and feedback back in the late 2000s. And while the 10-song/40-minute format of *Possession* may position it as a leaner counterpoint to 2024’s sprawling prog-folk-jazz odyssey *Three Bells*, its compact package belies the amount of structural complexity, textural detail, and melodic ingenuity that Segall crams into each of these tunes. It’s a record built on familiar reference points—acoustic Zeppelin riffs, Bowie/T. Rex pageantry, Plastic Ono Band groove—that’s always taking you to unexpected places, as songs like the strings-’n’-sax-swirled “Shoplifter” and the funky-glam workout “Fantastic Tomb” cycle through multiple sections and accrue more power each step of the way. But even as he plunders the history of British rock with surgical precision, Segall remains an unkempt West Coast punk at heart: He signs off with “Another California Song,” an acerbic Golden State anthem infused with equal amounts of California dreaming and dreading.
After two pandemically conditioned ‘reaction’ albums - Yay! (2023) and Neigh!! (2024) - a few non-album singles and a compilation album, a downsized and sleek Motorpsycho is back where we all know and love them, with an epic, sprawling double album, filled to the brim with inventive, organic and ecstatic rock-based music. Rejoyce Psychonaut! This eponymously titled, 11 song work, has exactly as much variety & diversity, accord and discord, as one expects from a band that has released a few albums before, and that these days must be regarded as an institution in European rock. From concise 3min-something pop-rockers, to 20mins-plus progressive epics, via acoustic intimacies and psychedelic wig-outs, this is concentrated Motorpsychosis: commenced Rebis, countdown initiated. Ever closer. Ever sharper... Since the traditional 3 or 4 piece rock band seems to be a dying breed these days, and MP always was a band in flux anyway, a new pragmatic era has begun in the Psychoverse. The band has, in what one might call alchemical terms, been ‘dissolved and purified’, and is by now again reduced to the core two founding members HMR & BS. This is nothing new, it has happened a few times before, but these days they are also the owners and creators of the record company NFGS, which is now the hub of all recorded band activity, and Motorpsycho marks the final severance of existing ties to other labels for the first time in 35 years. If ‘freedom is free of the need to be free’, this is it. Yikes! The minimalist title of the album is then not just easy to remember, it’s also a statement: a new era has begun in the Psychoverse, a state of affairs reflected in execution and details as well as title, if not perhaps, in ambition or size: “Senex psittacus negligit ferulam” *. This is a time of new beginnings for a band that has spent two years consolidating and reseting before charging ahead anew on a new path, trumpets blaring (...and trumpets don’t come much more blaring in the Psychoverse than with this grandiloquent hyperbole. Good fun! ). New day rising indeed. The core band was adroitly helped by a gaggle of greats from all over the Scandinavian musical landscape on these recordings: drummers Ingvald Vassbø and Olaf Olsen, string arranger/violinist Mari Persen, vocalist Thea Grant, and - as usual - honorary psycho, brother Reine Fiske, were all fellow travellers on this musical journey. Motorpsycho was co-produced by the band and Deathprod, and mixed by Andrew Scheps. Motorpsycho are not the best at what they do, they’re the only ones that do what they do. NFGS2025 *: [ “Senex psittacus negligit ferulam,” or “An old parrot doesn’t mind the stick.” ]
“We made this album in probably the busiest time in our lives,” King Stingray guitarist Roy Kellaway tells Apple Music. Indeed, the relentless touring the band embarked on following the success of their 2022 self-titled debut impacted its follow-up in several ways. Logistically, it meant they were having to seize studio time between gigs, booking local studios in whatever part of Australia they happened to find themselves in. Thematically, its influence was also profound. “A lot of the songs have a philosophical sentiment about life,” says Kellaway. “There are some introspective themes where we’re thinking about what’s passing by and what’s happening around us in this busy time, trying to process that.” The rush of the past few years, and appreciation of simple living during such a hectic period, is invoked in “Soon As” and “What’s the Hurry?” while “Southerly” harks nostalgically back to their roots in the Northern Territory, “when we were just a couple of kids, with a couple of big ideas.” As with King Stingray’s debut, the lyrics are split between English and the ancestral Yolŋu language of vocalist Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu and guitarist Dimathaya Burarrwanga, only this time the choruses are sung entirely in English to make them more inclusive, particularly in the live space. The band also continues to incorporate the ancient Indigenous tradition of manikay (song/songlines) into their spirited indie rock, lending each track myriad thematic nuances. “A lot of our songs have a sentiment that extends in more than one meaning, and that’s pretty characteristic of Yolŋu culture and the many layers of meaning behind Yolŋu Matha,” says Kellaway, referring to the collection of languages spoken by the Yolŋu people of northeast Arnhem Land. Here, the guitarist, songwriter, and producer unravels some of those layers, track by track. **“Light Up the Path”** “We were like, ‘Let’s start this new album with a song that feels King Sting-like, but then it has some newer moments that maybe people haven’t heard before.’ The sentiment for ‘Light Up’ is about seizing the moment, so that’s why we wanted to crack in with a bit of a belter to begin with. It felt like a nice one to start with.” **“Best Bits”** “It’s about all the best bits of life poured into one moment, and it’s inspired by a particular moment in time where we had a day that just had all the right ingredients: friends, family, good weather, sunshine, and you’re with your loved ones and you’re in a beautiful place where Mother Earth is turning it on. I guess it’s about simple living in a complex digital world; sometimes all the best bits are already around us, we just need to recognize them.” **“Southerly”** “We’ve been musos for years, but it was quite a quick turnaround from putting out our first song to having fans. We just found ourselves thinking about how nothing’s changed—we’re still the same people, we’re still mates having fun playing music. The only thing that’s different is that there’s lots more people listening to us. We come from pretty humble beginnings and we’d never forget our roots and who we are. Integrity is really important for us.” **“Lookin’ Out”** “It’s easy as humans to put a lot of pressure on making the right decision and navigating things in life. That song’s about being at peace with making the best decision you can. We love big things—the big sky and the big blue ocean—so we’re always marveling at the vastness of the world, and looking out into the big ocean creates a lot of feeling for us. Simple living is something we love.” **“Scoreboard”** “We hit the ground running with the record and wanted a bit of a breather. There’s some wonderful pedal steel guitar on there. We often play that live as an atmospheric part leading into ‘Lookin’ Out,’ but we decided to put it after ‘Lookin’ Out,’ this time as a breather.” **“Nostalgic”** “This was inspired by when we were in the US for South by Southwest in 2023. We had this beautiful home and we were staying up late because we were excited, telling stories. It’s that concept of reminiscing, but at the same time you’re making new memories.” **“Day Off”** “It’s about taking the day off. We’re calling in sick, we’re all going to have some fun and take the day off, and I’ve called your boss and got you one too, so let’s hang out together. Then the chorus opens up—‘picking up the keys to a better life’ is the line, and it’s just about perspective and having your priorities right, because there’s lots of distractions in life and it’s easy to lose sight of what’s important. We always want to be mindful that joy and happiness is really important for us as individuals.” **“Through the Trees”** “It’s inspired by a particular place in Arnhem Land—you come up this big sand dune and you get to the top and you can see this big canopy of trees, almost like a tunnel, and through the trees the deep blue sea is straight in front of you. It’s about not wasting time and seizing the moment. The traditional songline sung in the bridge is an ancient melody, and that humming sound is the sound of a bee, where an old man’s walking through the bush, and he’s following the sound of a bee and it’s guiding him towards the light, towards people and community. ‘Through the Trees’ has got that multilayered meaning.” **“Soon As”** “It’s about coming back home. It’s a big relief. This album is explaining our journey over the last few years. We’ve covered lots of places, and this one’s about getting both feet on the ground, back on Country, wherever that may be for you.” **“What’s the Hurry?”** “It’s about slowing down. We all come from small towns throughout Australia, and you come to the city and everyone’s in a rush, and we find ourselves in a rush as well. It’s also got a sustainability wink. ‘Can we tread light to sustain?’ is one of the lines in the chorus, and it’s talking about, can we tread a bit lighter on Earth to sustain our beautiful Mother Earth? It’s definitely on our mind because Yolŋu people see firsthand a lot of really bad environmental effects on the northeast coast.” **“Come to the Surface”** “It’s a bit ethereal. It’s about popping out from underneath the water and getting that fresh air hit you in the face. You’ve got that big sort of relieving moment.” **“Cat 5 (Cyclone)”** “This one’s got a multi meaning. On the surface, it’s a love song—life might feel a bit chaotic sometimes, it can feel a bit like a cyclone, but when you’re with that special person, you look into their eyes and you see a blue sky up ahead. We grew up in the tropics, so we’re used to cyclones, and we used to always get the cyclone warnings show up on the TV. In the chorus where it says, ‘you know I’m trying/To pick up the signs,’ that’s the warning signs of the cyclone coming. We never got frightened of them as kids, we’d surf in the cyclone. It’s part of living in the Top End.”
Three key ingredients helped shape Ocean Alley’s fifth studio album. The first was acclaimed producer Nick DiDia, whose work with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and Rage Against the Machine helped the band harness a more rock-oriented approach on songs like “Thru Everything” and “Life in Love.” “It was a little bit daunting at first because he’s worked with so many good bands,” bassist Nic Blom tells Apple Music. “But it was so easy to work with him. He had a lot of influence in helping us build sections and telling us what instruments would sound good where.” Another key ingredient was simply the experience the five-piece had accumulated since forming in Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2011. “We can hear all the years that have come before us,” explains guitarist Mitch Galbraith. As for how that manifests on *Love Balloon*, Blom says they were “just a bit more mature about our writing process. We focused on spending more time with the tracks and demoing, and figuring out parts and sections that complement each other.” The third major influence was a sense of fun, a response to the darker tone of 2022 predecessor *Low Altitude Living*. “With ‘Thru Everything,’ ‘Left of the Dealer,’ ‘Life in Love,’ and ‘Down the Line,’ we were able to just have fun with the writing,” says Blom. “I think we needed to do that because the last one was kind of serious.” The resulting album, says the bassist, covers “every different mood,” from the Steely Dan-esque groove of “Tangerine” and the Creedence Clearwater Revival-influenced “Left of the Dealer” to the island vibes of “Sweet Boy” and the blissful soul of “Ain’t No Use.” Here, Blom and Galbraith take Apple Music through *Love Balloon*, track by track. **“First Blush”** Nic Blom: “It’s a smooth acoustic intro and we thought that suited the start of the record. It’s a nice way to ease into everything.” Mitch Galbraith: “We appreciated the aesthetic of having the opener and closer \[‘Drenched’\] with acoustic guitar in them.” NB: “I think \[vocalist Baden Donegal\] wrote that after he’d moved from the east coast to the west coast, so it’s kind of about that whole move over west with his family.” **“Tangerine”** NB: “We were going for a bit of a Steely Dan vibe. It’s got the big riff and then it drops into that groovy section, and Nick \[DiDia\] was like, ‘Congas and percussion would sound amazing here.’” MG: “The cleansing power of the ocean has been part of all of our lives for ages, and once you know that it’s pretty obvious what Baden is singing about. It’s him writing a poem about how he loves escaping to nature. We all share that sentiment.” **“Ain’t No Use”** MG: “The song took some cues from Baden’s initial \[vocal\] delivery. He started singing those lyrics in that soulful way and then we could all hear it—this is going to have a bit of soul to it. We leant into it.” **“Sweet Boy”** MG: “That one’s based off a poem I wrote about myself, but also another friend. Baden was looking for lyrics, ’cause it was a song Nic had written most of and brought to the group. So I showed him the poem and he really liked the idea, and he basically used the first two stanzas as lyrics. It’s just about keeping your head held high in a tough situation and not blaming too many of the bad things going on around you on yourself or your character.” **“Love Balloon”** NB: “\[Baden\] was writing about the love balloon hitting the ceiling, and we had \[the title\] written on the whiteboard. It looked nice written down so we were like, it could be a cool name for the record. We had a couple of songs that were in contention. ‘First Blush’ was another one we thought would be a cool record title, but we fell on ‘Love Balloon’ ’cause there’s so many songs about love on the record.” **“Thru Everything”** NB: “We started that one with a different groove, but made the chords a bit faster and more chuggy.” MG: “I know \[Baden\] writes his lyrics really candidly, and they’re not necessarily really detailed and descriptive, but I know they come from his feelings and his life. So you can probably take \[this song\] pretty literally.” **“Left of the Dealer”** NB: “Bit of a Creedence Clearwater vibe. That rolling, rocky stuff. And Angus \[Goodwin\] on his lead guitar just nails that vibe. I think the title was just a play on words. It suits the style of song. It’s just a good little hook.” **“Down the Line”** NB: “It was the vibe to go a bit Western. In the past we’ve leant into a couple of Western-influenced songs.” MG: “‘Dahlia’ was one that we did in the past.” NB: “It was nice to have a bit of fun with stuff like dropping reverb tanks to make it sound like lightning when Baden says, ‘ride the lightning.’ You take the reverb tank out of the guitar amp and drop it and it crackles. It makes a cool noise.” **“Life in Love”** MG: “We used to write songs like this before we even released music, in the garage—we’d just drop into a blues jam randomly after bashing rock chords and stuff. When we wrote it, we were laughing at each other going, ‘There’s no way Nick’s gonna find that impressive or approve of that.’ And as soon as we did it he goes, ‘That end part was actually cool.’ We thought he’d hate it.” **“Drenched”** NB: “The minute we wrote this song it immediately felt like the ending track. It just felt like it summed it up perfectly. Baden’s lyrics are really nostalgic—it’s an ode to being a kid again, basically.”
