Freaking Out - EP

Album Review

After two records that established him as one of the guiding lights (if not THE guiding light) of the chillwave wave, Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bundick released an EP that is less of a stopgap between releases than it is a further refining and expanding of his hazy, chopped-out sound that falls somewhere between Christopher Cross, A.R. Kane, and Prince, only cooked up on a computer in the corner of a crowded bedroom instead of in a brightly lit studio. This time out the sound is a little less smeared, a little more direct and punchy with the (still choppy) vocals more to the forefront. Bundick’s love of dance music and disco is more obvious here, as the tracks are all very danceable and he has the good taste to cover the Alexander O’Neal/Cherrelle duet "Saturday Love." (Quite well, it should be added.) Stripping away all the shoegaze and dream pop influences may have seemed like a risky move since his albums were bathed in them, but Bundick is skilled enough at creating propulsive, breezy dance-pop that the move pays off nicely. The only problem with Freaking Out is that it's so short!