Toro Y Moi Has Turned His Latest Album Into a Film

Toro Y Moi (aka Chaz Bear) is a hard artist to pin down. Every album has been flavoured differently, but his brand new one – Boo Boo – may be his most interesting release yet. It’s a mixture of synthesised future-pop, funk, electronica and just about every other genre Bear has toyed with in his impressive six year, five album run. The spirit of his home state of California has permeated through everything he’s ever done, you can almost see the shoreline as you listen to some of his more evocative work, and Boo Boo is nothing if not evocative.

Just prior to release, Bear previewed his album, but it wasn’t your average stream. Instead, he uploaded a short film which features the whole thing playing start-to-finish. At 49 minutes, it’s a pretty long short film, but it largely features Bear just driving around the California Bay Area during one particularly beautiful evening. Every now and again some other footage appears, picture-in-picture style, but for the most part it’s just a scenic tour of one of the most gorgeous coastal regions in the United States, all from the back of Bear’s very tastefully furnished van (there’s a sticker on the rear window which says ‘Reality’s tight if the music is right’).

Like the album itself, the film feels very personal, like he’s showing us the world he exists in, and the environment which helps bring his music to life. Bear grew up in South Carolina and during the early stages of his career lived in DC, but later relocated to the West Coast, as chronicled in his 2013 album Anything in Return. With this release, Bear has clearly settled into his new home, and found a very apt way to express it. This is well worth a watch.

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