By Ian Bremner

Working in a record store, judging a record by its cover is not only acceptable practice, but it’s a way to start conversations and playfully prediction what certain records sound like. The adage about not judging a book by its cover has merits, yes, but you can usually judge a record by its cover. Looking at Ty Segall‘s latest project Hello, Hi, the album features him halfway up a tree, with an acoustic guitar in hand, smiling in a black and white photo. The unpredictable nature of Ty Segall’s output aside, taking one glance Hello, Hi you can tell it’s a good album. It sounds like it looks.

Over the course of his countless EPs, side projects and full length records, a well placed acoustic song from Ty Segall hits the spot. Some of his best songs are of the quieter variety in fact. Sleeper is one of his best records. All that aside, he has never fully “gone acoustic” until now. Hello, Hi, is a *mostly* mellow collection of solo tunes cooked up over recent retrospective years. The one caveat is the screechy full-blown rocker title track he is known for. Segall couldn’t quite help himself. Halfway through the record, Hello, Hi, the song serves as a refresher as opposed to the focal point of Hello, Hi, the album.

Most Segall records feature a slower palette cleanser. Perhaps Hello, Hi serves the same function in record form. It provides enough jolt to wake you up from a summer nap before swaying you back amongst the breezy trees.

As a followup to 2021’s Harmonizer, the two records could not be different, and yet, they both uniquely Ty Segall.

Listen/Buy Ty Segall’s Hello, Hi below