Of all the artists to emerge from the chillwave craze, Toro y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick) has arguably been the most successful at transcending the confines of the genre and carving out his own path. His previous full-length, 2011's Underneath the Pine, replaced woozy electronics with crisp live instrumentation, while his Les Sins side-project has given him an outlet for his dance floor-oriented inclinations. With these stylistic turns in mind, Anything in Return functions as an all-in-one summary of Bundick's talents, giving the impression of a maturing songwriter who has found his wheelhouse. The instrumentation is largely electronic this time around, with perky beats providing a danceable backdrop for warm synth textures, R&B-flavoured melodies and chopped-up vocal samples that sound like they were borrowed from a '90s dance mix. There's also plenty of electric guitar, and the piano plunks on "Cola" and "Cake" give the computerized arrangements a warm, organic quality. If the album has a downfall, it's that there are no clear standouts among these 13 tracks, and the 52-minute runtime means that Bundick's subtle hooks get lost in the sheer quantity of material. Then again, if having too much of a good thing is the worst that can be said about Anything in Return, it is a success.
Read our full interview with Bundick here.
(Carpark Records)Read our full interview with Bundick here.