Toro y Moi Blends Psychedelia, Soul on “MAHAL”
New album from the Berkeley-based artist is a contagiously fun ride
Chaz Bear, known to most as Toro y Moi, has been releasing studio records, compilations and mixtapes since 2010. He’s considered one of the pioneers of “chillwave” — a late 2000s genre focused on synth-driven dream pop, born on the internet. However, Bear has found success in recent years by branching off into an eclectic mix of different sounds and styles in his now seven studio albums, innovating with each release.
Bear has lived and worked throughout the Bay Area since moving away from his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. While music is still his main pursuit, he has established himself as an all-around creative. He’s the founder of design house “Company Studio,” where he works as a graphic designer and fine artist. He’s even held solo shows for his art in different galleries throughout Los Angeles, Portland, and Tokyo.
MAHAL marks Bear’s 7th studio album. Abundantly clear from just the first listen, this 13-track, 40-minute album is a gleaming execution of a highly stylized, infectious musical direction.
While MAHAL still includes some of Toro y Moi’s signature “chillwave” style, this new album sees Bear venture into new takes on his sound that weren’t as prevalent in previous records. Wobbling synths, wailing guitars and psychedelic sound design permeate this album from track one, as Bear draws from what is now a deep and detailed catalog of musical inspirations from the 60s to present day. Playing just as loud as the psychedelic tones on MAHAL are the groovy 70s and 80s sounds that feature gritty electric keyboards and backbeat drum patterns with heavy doses of vinyl crackle.
Musically, much of the songwriting on MAHAL is centered around inventive and ear-catching baselines. What also stands out are the different percussion elements that Bear experiments with — some tracks delivering an off-kilter or glitchy feel, while others feature smooth drumming in a tight pocket.
Perhaps most impressive is Bear’s ability to mix these different genres and styles. Cuts like “The Medium,” “Goes By So Fast” and “Déjà Vu” capture the experimental character of modern psychedelia, while “Postman” and “The Loop” offer cleaner production with a front-and-center groove. MAHAL plays well on the commonalities between these two vibes, so their proximity in the tracklist is anything but disjointed.
Much like his prior works, Toro y Moi manages to carefully dissect and comment on current-day experiences in a digitizing world. Thematically, he seems to be particularly interested in our relationships to new and old ways of life and expression, like on “Magazine” and “Postman.” Take these refrains on “Magazine,” for example:
“Nothing here to see, factories overseas / Cut down all these trees, we buildin' Model T's [...] This man in the magazine / It's just us we wanna see”
Bear also gives us a closer look into his own life on “Last Year:”
“I learned to love myself last year / Breakthroughs in conversations / Session went well / Yeah, I kept my chill”
Even when his lyrics don’t puncture as deep, Bear leaves listeners with raw and unfiltered (if at times sporadic) lyrics.
With each new release, Chaz Bear cements Toro y Moi as an adventurous, all-around artist. What’s ultimately most responsible for this versatility is his music’s ability to be taken purely as groove-driven, dance-ready tracks, or interesting and witty takes on common, relatable ideas.