Toro Y Moi Releases Underneath the Pine Instrumentals for the Album’s 10th Anniversary

by Dillion Veazie
Music Journalist

Exactly 10 years after the release of Toro Y Moi’s sophomore album, Underneath the Pine, Chaz Bear aka Toro Y Moi, is back again with an instrumental version of possibly his greatest body of work thus far.

Bear’s sophomore album marked the end of his chill wave era. Underneath the Pine moves away from the electronic and sample based songs we heard from him previously, and makes use of psych rock, funk, alternative/indie and ’80s R&B. This album solidified Toro Y Moi’s image as a band that is capable of spanning multiple genres to bring their otherworldly vision into fruition.

Since the 2011 release, Toro Y Moi’s sound hasn’t stopped evolving. From the dense synth heavy sounds of Anything in Return, to the loose and disco inspired songs of Outer Peace. Bear stated in a recent tweet that Underneath the Pine paved the way for some of his later releases. These include collaborations with the Mattsons, Star Stuff, and the 2015 release, What For.

In addition to this, Toro Y Moi has since branched out to collaborate with artists such as Dev Hynes, MadeinTYO and Flume, which resulted in his first career Grammy nomination. 11 years after Bear’s first release, he has shown no signs of slowing down.

Coupled with the release of the instrumental album on all mainstream streaming services is a cassette version for old school fans. Listen to Underneath the Pine Instrumentals here.

Feature image courtesy of Toro Y Moi’s Bandcamp.