Album Review: Anything in Return

In the most basic sense, Toro Y Moi’s new album “Anything in Return” comes across as an edgier, R&B-influenced take on the French electronic group Télépopmusik’s popular track “Breathe.” And, for the most part, it’s done very well.

Chazwick Bundick, known by the stage name Toro Y Moi, rose to prominence out of the chillwave scene in 2010. Chillwave is an amalgam of many genres, including electro-pop, shoegaze and ambient.

“Anything in Return” certainly has some of the ambience and ’80s synths typical of chillwave music, but the album is decidedly distinct. Many of the tracks have an extremely danceable, high-tempo mood, and others have hard-hitting, dark tones. Bundick has created a sonic environment, wrought with fantastic vocal melodies, that runs the gamut from ambient pop to electronic dance music.

The first two tracks, “Harm in Change” and “Say That” both abundantly feature the “loungey” electro-organ/keyboard synth that’s found throughout the record, as well as the aforementioned Télépopmusik track. This particular synth is paramount to the laid-back and ambient feel much of the album gives, and helps to tie the record together. It also has the curiously specific effect of making one feel like driving through a city on a rainy night, partially due to the fact that the Télépopmusik song was in a popular car commercial.

Bundick’s vocals are sublime. His voice is smooth, and he casually hits falsettos in simple yet crucial melodies. His voice truly becomes another instrument that adds vital atmosphere beyond anything the lyrics offer. This is especially true for tracks like “Touch” and “Rose Quartz,” which have sparse, punctuated sample-like vocals.

Like the vocal melodies, the lyrics, when intelligible, are typically simple and direct. The songs deal largely with love and being away from it; this is Bundick’s first album after moving from South Carolina to California.

For the most part, the lyrics fit into the songs well and are tastefully subtle. However, in “Cake,” this is not so. The song bursts into “She knows, I’ma be her boy forever/ … When I look at her she’s all I wanted.” It’s typically difficult for lyrics to really bring down pop music, but these unabashed boy-girl lines will do it. The lack of depth is quite alarming, especially when juxtaposed with the fitting lyrics in the rest of the record. If it’s any consolation, Bundick must have at least been self-aware to have titled a song so sweet and cheesy, “Cake.”

“Cake” kicks off the last few songs, which are markedly denser than the rest. “Never Matter” starts out with a synth progression that reminds the listener of M83’s “Midnight City” because of the odd similarity in the beat and chord progression of the two songs. The track is still funky and very Toro Y Moi, but it’s also a lot richer and more energetic than most of “Anything in Return.”

“Anything in Return” is a shining example of the most exciting aspect of today’s indie music: the combination of new and old. Barring a few lyrical hiccups, Toro y Moi successfully combines elements of ’70s funk, ’80s electronica and modern hip-hop to create a refreshing sound with mass appeal.

Email Malik at [email protected].