Boo Boo, the fifth studio album from Chaz Bear in his Toro y Moi guise, arrives following a troubled period which he has openly described as an “identity crisis”. During this time, he enveloped himself in the world of ambient music as a method of healing and re-discovered a love of “space within music”. This latest release continues his chameleonic ability to adapt his style, and is another thrilling progression from this unpredictable character. The beauty of Toro y Moi is that you never quite know what you are going to get, as he is not someone who could ever be accused of standing still or rehashing his earlier work. On opener ‘Mirage’, he starts off by saying “I just want everyone to have a good time” and that is something he definitely achieves.

The opening one-two of that track and the following ‘No Show’ encapsulate everything that is great about this album. Funky basslines straight out of the 80s (with even a hint of the Ghostbusters theme on the opener), combine with that very modern use of space within the songs. Rather than flooding the music with superfluous sounds, there is not a single unnecessary note or effect. This somehow produces dance music that also has an incredible stillness to it, making it perfect for both the club and the beach. Although a lot slower than the likes of Daft Punk or College, you can also hear the echoes of French house, which gives a subtle urgency throughout. The mood is set, and Boo Boo continues to produce the goods in what, for me, is his most cohesive album yet. Different influences are apparent but never swamp the songs, with his musical magpie tendencies adding fascinating layers and diversions to otherwise straightforward pop music. ‘Mona Lisa’ moves from straightforward electropop into a Gigi Masin-esque ambient outro, before ‘Pavement’ seems to take us back to Berlin-era Bowie. None of this is meant to suggest that Boo Boo is anything but original, and it takes a genius to be able to turn these disparate influences into something so thrillingly ‘now’. By the time ‘Windows’ layers vocoder vocals over an almost tropical R‘n’B /hip-hop beat, there is barely a genre untouched.

Fans of College’s Drive soundtrack will find a lot to love here, with tracks like ‘Embarcadero’ and ‘Labyrinth’ giving the same 80s-tinged sense of bliss and melancholia. However, with slow jams like ‘Girl Like You’, singing “Aren’t you gonna stay, keep me till the sun comes up?”, he is also catering firmly for R‘n’B fans just as successfully. Seeing Bear perform this live would be fascinating, but he has expressed a wish to disappear after its release and has stated on Twitter that he won’t be touring it at all. Closing track ‘W.I.W.W.T.W.’ mournfully asks “What is wrong with this world, it’s got me thinking too much” so perhaps that is understandable. It may be a real shame for the rest of us, but if it allows him the time and space he needs to clear his head and continue producing work as flawless as Boo Boo, then so be it. In the meantime, the perfect summer album has arrived. Time to lay back and bask in the glow of another fantastic piece of work from Toro y Moi.
Jamin MacMillan