Toro y Moi’s What For? Out Now
TORO Y MOI’S WHAT FOR? OUT NOW
TOURING NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE,
SET TO PLAY COACHELLA, LOLLAPALOOZA, OUTSIDE LANDS, OSHEAGA AND MORE
COLLABORATES WITH FREQUENCY WINE
“…feel-tingly guitar-pop, with winsome results…psychedelic swirls of guitar, keys and harmonizing vocals shake free of gravity and wobble up toward the sky like a balloon…Toro y Moi’s breezy groove makes for a perfect springtime listen.”—NPR
“…the South Carolina singer/producer has gotten better…Switching up sounds is daunting, and Toro’s one of the few that do it confidently almost every go-round…and we hope he keeps going”—The FADER
“Toro y Moi Is Going To Save Rock N’ Roll”—The Huffington Post
“The most rock Toro y Moi has ever sounded, a sunshine-drenched guitar-pop tune…It’s not a departure so much as an extension of Bundick’s
already-expansive aesthetic”—Stereogum
“What For? is a space disco, an R&B funk den, a piano lounge bar at the airport and a sunset harbour cruise with the cast of Broad City…a gloriously bizarre, fun freakout of an album…”—CBC
What For?, the new album from Toro y Moi, is out now on Carpark Records. The album, which Nylon says “finds him tackling—and mastering—psychedelic pop…” and Paste calls “another exciting step in a new direction for Toro y Moi,” is available here.
Toro y Moi is currently in Europe before returning stateside for appearances at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Osheaga and Outside Lands and headlining dates at New York’s Terminal 5 and Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club, in addition to a sold out night at Los Angeles’ The Fonda. Tickets are available now at toroymoi.com/shows.
Toro y Moi frontman and creative force Chaz Bundick has also partnered with Frequency Wine on the inaugural collaboration of their Artist Series, designing the label and creating an exclusive mix for their 2014 Frequency blend. For more information, visit Frequency here.
“Run Baby Run” recently premiered on Pitchfork, stream it here. The band previously shared album tracks “Buffalo” and “Empty Nesters.” Of “Buffalo,” The FADER says, “Switching up sounds is daunting, and Toro’s one of the few that do it confidently almost every go-round.” Watch the video for “Empty Nesters”—directed, written and shot by Bundick—here.
Recorded in the Berkeley, CA home studio of Toro y Moi producer, singer, songwriter and mastermind Chaz Bundick over the course of 2014, What For? draws inspiration from Big Star, Talking Heads and Todd Rundgren, as well as Brazil’s Tim Maia and France’s Cortex, among many others. Unknown Mortal Orchestra guitarist Ruban Nielson appears on the album, as does multi-instrumentalist Julian Lynch.
“I’ve done electronic R&B and more traditional recorded type R&B stuff. I just wanted to see what else was out there,” Bundick says of the record. “It’s all coming from the same mindset and point of creativity. It’s just me trying to take what I already have, and then taking it further.”
Having spent his formative years playing in punk rock bands and studying graphic design at the University of South Carolina, Bundick began making bedroom recordings under the name Toro y Moi in 2001. Those early recordings made up the seeds of his critically acclaimed 2010 debut album Causers of This, which was hailed as “a bold introduction to a promising newcomer” by Filter. Bundick went on to record 2011’s highly regarded Underneath the Pine and the Freaking Out EP before making his move to California in 2012. Toro y Moi’s critically-adored Anything In Returnfollowed in 2013, along with the debut full length from Les Sins, Bundick’s dance music project in 2014.
TORO Y MOI LIVE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
