Toro y Moi’s brings listeners back to the 80’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Kyle Spencer

Staff Writer

Chaz Bear, better known as Toro y Moi, an American singer-songwriter, record producer and graphic designer released his album “Outer Peace” Jan. 18, 2019.

This album gave off an uplifting vibe with high energy and bright sounds from his use of chill electro-pop, funk and R&B tunes.

Starting the album with the title “Fading,” Bear incorporating these music styles are evidently still heavy influencers. He used a number of different instruments and synths in the song, creating a rhythmic tune to dance to.

With the second song “Ordinary Pleasure,” Bear brings in a catchy hook using classic instruments of the bass, bongos, drums and synth. As he repeats the lyrics “Maximize all the Pleasure” over and over, his layered vocals fit perfectly with the song, encouraging listeners to sing along.

In “Laws of the Universe,” his layering of the instruments is key to the song accompanied by his sustained notes, but the groove itself is enough to carry the song.

The next song “Miss Me,” Bear brought in a strong feature with the artist Abra. She sang over the whole song continuously with perfect, soothing vocals.

Transitioning to “New House,” Bear gave a very memorable chorus, singing, “I want a brand new house, Something I cannot buy, Something I can’t afford.” This song signifies that people always want the next best thing and are unhappy with what they already have.

Bear then gives us “Baby Drive It Down.” This upbeat, repetitive song is an earworm with a simple beat and a great bass-like synth.

In “Freelance,” the lead single from the album, is yet another upbeat, very danceable song. Being a pre-release song, listeners were able to hear this song first. It is clear Bear wanted his upbeat vibe and jumpy beat he carried through the rest of the album to be represented in this song.

In “Who I Am,” Bear began the song with video game sound effects and bass. In his lyrics, he revealed how he wants to find himself, that he has multiple aspects of his personality that he would like to explore.

With “Monte Carlo,” Bear brought in Wet to feature on this track. Their two voices together gave a mellow vibe to the song and he used this song to slow down the album as a whole.

This transitioned to the last song on the album “50-50,” featuring Instupendo. Using a basic piano mix with other exotic instruments, Bear put voices in the background to expertly complement the mix.

The album stood its ground alongside his other albums. In the past, he has had features like Daft Punk, Frank Ocean, Travis Scott and Oneohtrix Point Never. Other artists with similar sounds are James Blake, Les Sins, Neon Indian and Washed Out.

As a whole, this album made listeners want to dance and relax all at the same time. The instrumentation throughout the whole album is expertly mixed and composed.