Chaz Bear or better known by his stage name Toro y Moi is a 37 year old singer/songwriter, producer & graphic designer from Columbia, South Carolina notable for being a pioneer of the chilllwave microgenre. His first 5 albums Causers of This, Underneath the Pine, Anything in Return, Michael & What For? all hold fond places in my heart since they were all released during the course of my adolescence. Boo Boo was ok & same with Outer Peace, but Mahal wound up being my favorite full-length of Chaz’ since What For? to the point where the singles ahead of his 9th LP had me intrigued as to what he was going to do.
“Walking in the Rain” starts by singing over a psychedelic trap instrumental about being back in this bitch like a bad teenager whereas “CD-R” kinda has this lo-fi quality to it keeping the hi-hats in the fold remembering the days of burning CD-Rs & having a Blackberry. “HOV” fuses rage & a hint of rock music talking about being a biodegradable energy angel prior to the pop rock, indie pop, cloud rap, alt-pop, pop punk & trap-flavored “Tuesday” laments music & other content can be predicable, repetitive or mundane in a world of algorithms & media consumption.
Benjamin Gibbard joins Chaz for “Hollywood” rolling alt-pop, cloud rap, emo rap & bedroom pop into 1 heading out to the titular city out in the west coast having no cell service stone rolling & role playing while “Reseda” featuring DUCKWRTH & Elijah Kessler goes for some punky undertones talking about a long day of living in the very city that Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) was founded. “Babydaddy” cavernously advises this woman he’s talking to that the father of her child could possibly be watching him from the side just before the chilled out “Madonna” featuring Don Toliver compares their partners to the pop icon of the same name.
“Undercurrent” featuring Don Toliver & Porches brings the synths back together so all 3 of them can ask if you can feel or hear an underlying influence & “Off Road” ironically might be my least favorite track here since he’s blatantly pulling from Travis Scott’s style too much. “Smoke” featuring Kenny Mason is this playful trap joint still adjusting with the time feeling all 4 seasons while “Heaven” goes bedroom pop talking about smoke & mirrors got you lookin’ at distractions hopin’ that it’s magic. “Starlink” ends with some dance undertones telling a bitch to get a grip on her life.
Hole Erth easily stands as the genre shapeshifter’s most unexpected & bold move to date diving headlong into cloud rap, alternative R&B, indie pop, alt-pop, emo rap, trap & pop punk. He even reclaims himself embracing the myriad sounds & eras that formed him while crashing new worlds together accomplishing the goal he set out of keeping up with the contemporary alternative listener building the themes around both angst & nostalgia.
Score: 3.5/5
Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!
Legends Will Never Die 