The C.I.A. a new project and band comprising Ty Segall, his wife Denée Segall, and the Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly announced a new album: “Surgery Channel” which arrives January 20th via In the Red Records. The group has shared lead single “Impersonator,” along with a music video directed by Joshua Erkman and Denée Segall. In the clip, Denée Segall’s face morphs as other images of Miss Piggy, Pinhead from Hellraiser, Gollum, Chucky, and more—are projected on top of it.
Step into a sick rhythm. And I mean sickly. “Surgery Channel” is a constructed world where everything is piercing and pinpointed. Every single word brings confrontation. With an intro as intimate and uncomfortable as this, The C.I.A. make you question what could be happening here…or what they’re after. Denée Segall (vocals, lyrics) is both haunting and seducing us at once with her voice. Something unhinged might be about to happen and they’re calmly dangling it over your head. Is it the possibility of dismemberment? Revenge?
There is something about “Surgery Channel” that is sterile and covered in dirt at the same time. Maybe it’s the feeling of simultaneous anger and defeat. Maybe it’s what comes after. Or maybe it’s about the ever-so-brief silent spaces between notes and words. Rhythm would be nothing without empty space. Words are rhythm at The C.I.A.
“Vicious visage / Internal monologue / Blink and stare / The metal and the glare / Intentions negating / The ego ascertaining / A pause / A cue / A push to make a move” from “Better”.
The C.I.A. released their self-titled debut album in 2018. The trio wrote “Surgery Channel” last year, and recorded it with Mike Kriebel at Ty Segall’s own Harmonizer Studios. Ty Segall issued his most recent solo LP, “Hello, Hi”, earlier this year.
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