Toro y Moi’s seventh studio album, MAHAL, is the boldest and most fascinating journey yet from musical mastermind Chaz Bear. The record spans genre and sound—encompassing the shaggy psychedelic rock of the 1960s and ‘70s, and the airy sounds of 1990s mod-post-rock—taking listeners on an auditory expedition, as if they’re riding in the back of Bear’s Filipino jeepney that adorns the album’s cover. But MAHAL is also an unmistakably Toro y Moi experience, calling back to previous works while charting a new path forward in a way that only Bear can do.
MAHAL is the latest in an accomplished career for Bear, who’s undoubtedly one of the decade’s most influential musicians. Since the release of the electronic pop landmark Causers of This in 2009, subsequent records as Toro y Moi have repeatedly shifted the idea of what his sound can be. But there’s little in Bear’s catalog that will prepare you for the deep-groove excursions on MAHAL, his most eclectic record to date.
The second the album begins we’re immediately transported into the passenger seat, jeep sounds and all, ready for the ride Chaz and company have concocted for us. Seeds of some of MAHAL’s 13 songs date back to the more explicitly rock-oriented What For? from 2015. MAHAL was mostly completed last year in Bear’s Oakland studio with the involvement of a host of collaborators, Sofie Royer and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Neilson to Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo and the Mattson 2.
Sofie Fatouretchi Royer is an artist and musician, born in California to Austrian and Iranian parents. Classically trained, she spent her teenage years in Vienna studying concert violin and viola at the Konservatorium; performing with the Junge Philharmonie in the Volksoper, Musikverein, Konzerthaus, and various concert halls.
Her foundations in DJing began at a Stones Throw hosted night called 56, which took place at the now defunct Mr T’s Bowl in Highland Park. There she connected with Boiler Room, when they scheduled their first West Coast broadcast, and she was booked to open for Dam-Funk, J Rocc and Peanut Butter Wolf. She quickly became responsible for the Los Angeles outpost, curating and hosting shows, later expanding to business development, merchandise and creative direction, a move that saw her moving to New York and London.
Toro Y Moi and Sofie Royer
Thursday 6th October 2022 | Doors 19:00 CET | Starts 20:00 CET
Metropol | Nollendorfplatz 5 | 10777 Berlin
toroymoi.com | Tickets | Event @ Facebook
