Chaz Bundick released his freshman debut Causers of This as Toro y Moi last year, a few steps behind artists like Neon Indian and Washed Out.
Bundick differentiated himself from his fellow participants in the aptly titled “chillwave” genre by focusing on blending R&B groves with vintage-sounding beats to make slicker, multi-layered songs. With Underneath the Pine, Toro y Moi isn’t so much taking a step forward as it is taking a step sideways.
Perhaps the most telling about the album is the second, well-named song “New Beat.”
It’s something you’d almost expect to hear while dancing underneath a disco ball, your hair in a frizzy perm. Peppered with beeps and blips, it seems like Bundick is channeling some Space Oddity-era Bowie.
While the rest of the album doesn’t sound exactly like this, the focus on more upbeat songs and a more overt 80s influence is the new name of the game for Bundick.
Combined with several dreamier songs that evoke Causers of This, the overall effect makes for a much more engaging album than the South Carolinian’s past efforts.
The album contains a multitude of double-take moments. One of these is the wholly unexpected guitar intro that transitions into the backbeat of “Before I’m Done,” managing for a minute to sidestep the album’s totally electronic sound.
“Got Blinded” gets slightly spooky with a clanging, eerie piano and wordless wailing from Bundick.
Yet songs like the slower, shimmery “Divina” shows that Toro y Moi hasn’t lost its penchant for the textured synth-and-effects slow-burners that made Causers so striking.
