''Outer Peace'' is the sixth studio album by American musician

Toro y Moi Chaz Bear (born Chazwick Bradley Bundick; November 7, 1986), known professionally as Toro y Moi, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He is often recognized as a spearhead of the chillwave genre in the 2010s, ...

, released on January 18, 2019, through Carpark Records. The tracks "Freelance" and "Ordinary Pleasure" were released prior to the album. On January 10, the album became available to stream in full via

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's website.

Background

Chaz Bear stated that the album came about after he decided not to tour for his previous record, 2017's '' Boo Boo''. He instead played DJ sets, later explaining that "The

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nightlife energy is way different than the concert type of nightlife energy. This next album for Toro is a lot more inspired by bigger club sounds." Along with the "accessible dance music" of

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

, Bear was inspired by

Wally Badarou Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work ...

's "innovative synths" and trips to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

while making the album. Bear also stated about the album title that "usually the peace is within, so to have peace on the outside is the challenge. I kind of just wanted to call that out."

Critical reception

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' writer Tom Breihan said that "With ''Outer Peace'', Bundick has given us a half-hour of playfully sleek synthpop, pulling in influences from house and R&B and straight-up

future-pop Futurepop is an electronic music genre that has been characterized as a blend of synthpop, electronic body music, EBM and dance beats, based on Trance music, trance and techno.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' ...

. He sings many of his songs through

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

, which never muffles the bemused silliness in his voice." Jordan Lawrence of the ''

Free Times The ''Cleveland Free Times'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. Its first issue was published on September 30, 1992. The ''Free Times'' and '' Cleveland Scene'', a competing weekly paper, were purchased by Times-Shamrock Co ...

'' opined that "It's the first Toro LP that isn't preoccupied with Bear's romantic insecurities and personal doubts", calling the album "yet another bold move, pushing decisively into Daft Punk-indebted modern

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

and bleary-eyed

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-ishness."

judged that "The variety of transformative production on ''Outer Peace'' speaks to Bundick's efforts to challenge himself, as well as listeners."

Track listing

Charts

References

2019 albums Toro y Moi albums Carpark Records albums {{2010s-electronic-album-stub