Hole Erth (CD)

Hole Erth, Chaz Bear’s eighth full-length studio record as Toro y Moi, is the genre shapeshifter’s most unexpected and bold move to date, with Bear diving headlong into rap-rock, Soundcloud rap and Y2K emo. The album blitzes anthemic pop-punk next to autotuned, melancholic rap – two genres that inform one another now more than ever before — and packs in the most features ever on a Toro y Moi album.

A sense of nostalgia sneaks its way into almost every Toro y Moi release, but angst is an emotion that Bear has never intentionally explored the way he does here. Tracks like “Tuesday'' channel a specific, yet forever-relatable sense of adolescent unease. A distorted guitar riff leads into a repeating chorus that conjures misunderstood teenagers singing aloud, maybe too loud, while riding bikes through American suburbs. This foreboding can also be heard on “HOV,” though not without poking some fun with lines like “Romance is so cold / My advice? To bring a coat.”

Tracklist

1. Walking in the Rain
2. CD-R
3. Hov
4. Tuesday
5. Hollywood (Feat. Benjamin Gibbard)
6. Reseda (Feat. Duckwrth and Elijah Kessler)
7. Babydaddy
8. Madonna (Feat. Don Toliver)
9. Undercurrent (Feat. Don Toliver and Porches)
10. Off Road
11. Smoke (Feat. Kenny Mason)
12. Heaven (Feat. Kevin Abstract & Lev)
13. Starlink (Feat. Glaive)