Kenny Segal is a producer from Los Angeles who has gained notoriety over the past few years, thanks to collaborations with Milo, producing tracks for Open Mike Eagle and Busdriver, and working as part of groups like the Jefferson Park Boys. Alongside all of this, he’s released a number of beat tapes and other small projects. The one thing that was left on his list was a proper full-length solo instrumental album, which he can now cross off his list as he presents Happy Little Trees.

If you’re familiar with Segal’s production on other projects, you’ll have some idea of what to expect, which is to say that he maintains his lo-fi downtempo vibe for the majority of the album. He fleshes this out with a mixture of jazz and post-rock, giving the album a meditative feel with plenty of room for improvisation. Segal employs a good deal of live instrumentation, bringing in bass, guitar, flute, sax, and Rhodes to flesh out the sound of the album. Most importantly, though, in this situation, Segal has a sophisticated understanding of song structure, and what it means to build a complete instrumental song, one that grows and develops and works in conversation with the rest of the album. This might sound simple on paper, but it’s actually quite difficult in practice, and takes a lot of patience and vision to get right. As it is, Happy Little Trees takes a little bit of patience to get into the swing of things, but everything is so peaceful and gorgeous, it’s not a tough sell to stick with it and see where Segal is taking things. It’s an album that sounds great on headphones, letting the world slip away for a while as you get lost in his tranquil beats.

It’s hard to believe that this is Kenny Segal’s first proper solo album, but now that Happy Little Trees is here, I can say that it was worth the wait. Segal has always been one to pay attention to the details and take the time to do things right, and his patience and dedication this time result in an absolutely beautiful album that gets better each time you listen to it.