“Had a revelation about where I want to be
I was drained of patience and my energy
Just to found out I played the wrong game
I was thinking about my six string”
Chaz Bear cares about place. Here’s a rundown of recent Toro y Moi projects: Outer Peace was set in the mostly inside, blue light life of the digital nomad. MAHAL celebrated life and love out and about in the Bay Area. Then came MAHAL (Live from Big Sur), a giant stone’s throw down Highway 1, imbuing the studio music with the magic of the central coast.
Now, as a pleasant wind-down summer surprise, Toro y Moi gives us Sandhills, a 14-minute ode to his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. Citing Sufjan Stevens and Karen O as influences, Bear here trades in most of the digital tools and electronic studio tricks for simple drum kit, bass, acoustic guitar, and naked human voice. It’s a quaint little country thing from probably the Bay’s biggest indie pop star right now. Just might make you leave the city and head for the nearest river or lake.
