What For? (album)

What For? is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Toro y Moi (also known as Chaz Bear), released on April 7, 2015, by Carpark Records.[8] The album includes 10 tracks at a run time of 36:38. Prior to the album release, Toro y Moi revealed three teaser tracks. These tracks include: "Empty Nesters", "Buffalo", and "Run Baby Run". This release follows his 2013 studio album Anything in Return.

What For?
Studio album by
Toro y Moi
ReleasedApril 7, 2015 (2015-04-07)
Genre
Length36:38
LabelCarpark
ProducerChaz Bundick
Toro y Moi chronology
Anything in Return
(2013)		 What For?
(2015)		 Samantha
(2015)
Singles from What For?
  1. "Empty Nesters"
    Released: January 19, 2015
  2. "Buffalo"
    Released: March 3, 2015
  3. "Run Baby Run"
    Released: March 25, 2015
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Consequence of SoundC[6]
Pitchfork6.6/10[7]

The album debuted on The Billboard 200 on April 4, 2015. The record peaked at 123rd position and stayed on the Billboard 200[9] chart for one week. On the Top Rock Albums Billboard charts, the record peaked at the 26th position. The album was on the Rock Albums chart for 1 week. Prior to this release, Chaz's Anything in Return album was also on The Billboard 200 chart. The album ranked in the 60th position on February 9, 2013. Ever since 2011, all of Toro y Moi's studio albums have peaked on The Billboard 200 chart.

Background

Prior to his release of What For?, Chaz was known as an early pioneer for the late 2000's genre of chillwave.[10] In Chaz's fourth album, he pursued a stylistic change to a pop-guitar/indie-rock sound rather than continuing his trend of exploring synth-pop, electronic, and house music. When approaching his fourth studio album, Chaz states in an article[11] that: “I’ve done electronic R&B and more traditional recorded type R&B stuff – I just wanted to see what else was out there”. Many reputable news sources when evaluating the What For? album likened it to 70's "indie rock". An NPR article[12] discussed how Chaz's new sound can also be likened to those during the 70's heyday.

Music videos

During the What For? album cycle, Toro y Moi had released a series of three music videos. The songs with videos include: "Half Dome",[13] "Lilly",[14] and "Empty Nesters".[15] The first video for this album was "Empty Nesters". The video was released on February 19, 2015. The video is shot, written, and directed by Chaz Bear. The video was released a month after the premiere of the song on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio show.[16] The video for "Lilly" was released on April 30, 2015,[17] and was directed by HARRYS. The final video for the What If? album cycle was "Half Dome". The video was released on September 18, 2015,[18] and was directed by R. Adam Prieto. The video includes visuals of Chaz exploring the Yosemite National Park.

Album tour

During 2015, Chaz had two tours in relation to his What For? album release. The first set of tour dates[19] took place between February and May 2015. The first tour consisted of only North American tour dates. While on tour, Chaz was accompanied by a variety of different artists who opened for him. These artists include: Vinyl Williams, Mattson 2, and Keath Mead. Chaz began the tour in the Oakland, California; where his current residence is.[20] The concert took place on February 26 at the New Parish concert venue. While on the tour, Chaz performed at the Hangout Music Festival and Coachella. During his time at Coachella, he recorded a short EP[21] based on his live performance. The EP was titled: Spotify Sessions. It included live versions of tracks from the What For? album. These tracks include: "What You Want", "Buffalo", "Empty Nesters", "The Flight", and "Yeah Right". The first tour of the year concluded in Austin, Texas. The final concert took place on May 20 at Emo's Austin concert venue. Chaz was accompanied by Keath Mead during this final performance.

The second set of tour dates[22] took place between June and November 2015. While on his second tour of the year, Chaz played at a variety of venues and festivals worldwide. These festivals include: Outside Lands, Capitol Hill, Super Bock Super Rock Festival, Lollapalooza, and many more. The second tour also began in the Bay Area. Chaz performed at the Rickshaw Stop venue in San Francisco, on June 30. The second tour concluded at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas. The festival took place between November 6 and 8 of 2015. Chaz performed in 74 live performances throughout the year of 2015 for his What For? album cycle.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."What You Want"3:26
2."Buffalo"3:17
3."The Flight"3:59
4."Empty Nesters"3:43
5."Ratcliff"2:41
6."Lilly"4:27
7."Spell It Out"2:54
8."Half Dome"3:15
9."Run Baby Run"2:45
10."Yeah Right"6:11
Total length:36:38

Personnel
  • Chaz Bundick – vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, percussion, design, engineering, layout, mixing, production
  • Anthony Ferraro – piano (3)
  • Aaron Gold – drums (3)
  • Patrick Jeffords – bass (10)
  • Julian Lynch – clarinet, saxophone and synthesizer (10)
  • Keath Mead – guitars (7)
  • Ruban Nielson – guitars and background vocals (8)
  • Andy Woodward – drums (4, 7, 8, 9, 10)
  • Christos – artwork
  • Steve Fallone – mastering
  • Patrick Jones – mixing
  • Josh Terris – photography

References
  1. "Listen to Two New Toro y Moi Songs Now". Noisey. June 27, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  2. "Toro y Moi 'Samantha'". exclaim.ca. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. Niesel, Jeff. "Indie Rockers Toro y Moi Embrace '70s Soft Rock on New Album". clevescene.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  4. "What For? – Toro y Moi". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  5. Sendra, Tim. "What For? – Toro y Moi". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  6. "Album Review: Toro y Moi - What For?". April 3, 2015.
  7. Cohen, Ian (April 7, 2015). "Toro Y Moi: What For?". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  8. Goble, Corban (January 19, 2015). "Toro Y Moi Announces New Album What For?, Shares "Empty Nesters"". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  9. "Toro y Moi". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  10. "Chillwave Was the First Great Genre of the Internet Era". www.vice.com. August 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  11. Reed, Ryan (March 30, 2015). "Stream Toro y Moi's Guitar-Driven New LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  12. Beta, Andy (March 29, 2015). "Review: Toro Y Moi, 'What For?'". NPR. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  13. Toro Y Moi - "Half Dome" (official music video), retrieved January 23, 2022
  14. Toro Y Moi - "Lilly", retrieved January 23, 2022
  15. Toro Y Moi - Empty Nesters (Official Music Video), retrieved January 23, 2022
  16. "Toro Y Moi – "Empty Nesters"". Stereogum. January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  17. "Toro Y Moi - Lilly". HYPEBEAST. April 30, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  18. "Toro Y Moi Shares "Half Dome" Video, Shot in Yosemite National Park". Pitchfork. September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  19. "Toro y Moi announces North American tour". Consequence. January 26, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  20. "Toro y Moi is the Most Regular Famous Person You'll Ever Meet". KQED. January 18, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  21. ""Spotify Sessions" - Toro Y Moi at Coachella 2015 [Official EP Stream] | Zumic | Free Music Streaming & Concert Listings". Zumic. June 3, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  22. "Toro Y Moi announces US tour dates". Consequence. June 2, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
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