The Californian Tim Presley looks back on his glorious lo-fi years and emerges with roughly a dozen visceral tracks crafted with his friend Ty Segall.
Nothing is written in advance, much less calculated. Tim Presley’s records have always given the impression of obeying an involuntary mechanism, made of happy accidents, unexpected encounters, spontaneous collaborations and creative impulses as visceral as they are salvific.
One only has to recall his beginnings within a handful of West Coast punk/hardcore groups, his stint backing Mark E. Smith with The Fall for a while, or catching him tinkering with his first White Fence songs on a four-track cassette, before his brother had the brilliant idea of pitching them to a label.
Back to the Early Days
In 2019, the musician didn’t really know where to direct his energy: a second solo album with proto-punk leanings under his own name? Another sixties garage record in the vein of the unmistakable sound of his pristine alias?
The answer came with the fused name Tim Presley’s White Fence and the spectacular I Have to Feed Larry’s Hawk, which was starting to take on the air of a swan song if this new album, Orange, hadn’t come along to set the clock right.
After seven years of a quiet discography, the Californian therefore reunites here with his friend Ty Segall (production and drums) to lay down about ten songs with melodies as disarming as in the early days. And on their own, the two opening tracks are enough to summon the specter of Mr. Adams, his lo-fi banger that opened 2010. The years pass, and the naivety of White Fence remains.
Orange (Drag City/Modulor). Release on April 24.
