Available on: Carpark 7”

Casting off the hipster shackles of the probably fictional, definitely ridiculously named  chillwave genre, Chaz Bundwick – better known as Toro Y Moi – brings us ‘Leave Everywhere’, a saccharine-sweet dose of lo-fi pop far removed from the hazy synthesizer foundations which he helped fashion for chillwave’s sound.

Like a distant echo of bygone Rock & Roll, the track crackles along with merry, distorted melody as Bundwick near-croons lamentations like “listen to me / she gets in your head”. Given the Buddy Holly-esque melancholy to the track, Bundwick’s lyrics could be homage to escaping the small town mentality of the 1950s, but it seems as if he’s more interested in escaping his perceived “sound” than anything else.

Far removed from the likes of previous single ‘Talamak’ or the sound of fellow chillwavers Washed Out and Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi seems intent to sell himself as a musician and a songwriter, rather than a peddler of – albeit excellent – nostalgia. With touches of Dev Hynes to his voice, ‘Leave Everywhere’ comes across both as wondrous and evocative as his previous efforts, and it seems that any aptitude that Bundwick may have for summoning up summery swathes of blissful reminiscence is probably more down to his fragile, Americana-like delivery than any number of static-washed synthesizers.

Mike Coleman