The reliance on musical labels has always been as much a hindrance for music fans as it has been an accurate way of cataloguing the music that we love. As has been the case over the past few years no genre label has been more vilified than Chillwave. And as much as I hate to beat a dead horse with my insistence that we leave our prejudices at the door, so to speak, when we first hear an album, any attempt to come at an album completely free of any notions concerning what we're about to hear is at best naive, and at worst lazy. It's rare that we are completely unaware of some facet of a song before we hear it. We either know some backstory concerning the artists’ influences or a rant by a critic of the rise and fall of micro-genres populated by pensive kids with laptops and a burned copy of Pro Tools. And as such, we’ve all heard the backlash against Washed Out, Neon Indian, and others who happen to share this same musical philosophy. But I think that this year will show that Chillwave, and I am still loathe to use that term, has more to give and show than a few programmed drum beats and synths stolen from a lesser New Order record.
Among the wash of Chillwave related albums released this year, Underneath The Pine by Toro Y Moi manages to display some of the most creative uses of instrumentation, both live and programmed, that we’ve seen up to this point in the genre. With this release I see the narrow vision of what some consider a comparably limiting genre expanding to include far more than what was expected after those first few bands were labeled as such. It doesn't hurt that Chaz Bundick has grown by leaps and bounds as a songwriter. On his previous album Causers Of This, it felt at times as though his inclination towards experimentation won out over what should have been a focus on using the amorphous synths and hazy vocals as a means of creative expression. But on this latest release, his ability to raise the material above any preconceived notions of what to expect allows Bundick to imbue these tracks with a spontaneity clearly inspired by his newfound growth as a songwriter.
The ambience provided across these tracks could have very easily slipped into the trap of proving true what people have claimed to dislike about him in the first place, namely the meanderingly dull burns and not-quite-there payoffs that the backlash focused around, which for me were never in evidence. But by condensing and layering more than just a few creative shifts in tonal manipulation, Underneath The Pine may well allow those who disliked Toro Y Moi on principle to see that there is indeed something more substantive here than what they initially thought. Songs like the warmly inviting bounce of single “Still Sound” and “How I Know”, with its surprisingly strong hook, show that given the right amount of talent and determination, labels can grudgingly be overcome and dismissed, and the music may be allowed to shine through, unfettered by hype and critical reaction. And in the case of Underneath The Pine, Bundick has released an album so seemingly enamored with musical diversity and what music may mean that he’s almost single handedly broken down the barriers that threatened to trap Chillwave in its battered frame and has allowed the joyous feelings he has been pouring into his music to wash over the listener in welcome waves. This is the sound of a man freed from the confines of a particular musical sound and playfully using what he finds to share that same feeling of freedom with the listener.
Tracklisting:
01. Intro/Chi Chi
02. New Beat
03. Go With You
04. Divina
05. Before I'm Done
06. Got Blind
07. How I Know
08. Light Black
09. Still Sound (listen to the mp3 below)
10. Good Hold
11. Elise
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