Chazwick Bradley Bundick, Toro y Moi’s solitary member, is seen as a leading figure in the chillwave movement. His music adapts heavy use of artificially created or enhanced sounds, synthesizers, repeating section of sound material, taking a portion of one sound and reusing it, and heavily filtered vocals with simple melodic lines.
However, in this new album, What For?, he takes his unhurried voice to the next level. The feeling he portrays by telling a road-trip experience under the blue summer sky was soothing and engaging and serves as perfect background music while diving into some deep thoughts or during interpersonal conversations. This is the same feeling aroused by the album’s cover with Toro looking down smiling with blue sky and lightning bolts painted on an aged garage door behind him.
The ten songs of What For? are based in a standard band set-up of guitar, bass, keys and drums. It specifically features a Roland JX-3P, Moog Voyager and Fender Rhodes, and follows a ‘70s mood. Apart from those creditable instruments echoing his voice, Julian Lynch and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson also contributed to the production of this album at Bundick’s Berkeley, Calif. home.
A few especially noticeable records are worth highlighting, including singles releasesd after the album like “Empty Nesters,” with its opening guitar riff reminiscent of The Byrds’ mid-period. Also, “Run Baby Run” adapts a hugely effective guitar track which holds the song together.
Grade: A-
