Today, Toro y Moi releases Unerthed: Hole Erth Unplugged via Dead Oceans. Unerthed: Hole Erth Unplugged is a reimagination of the acclaimed 2024 album Hole Erth, with songs rearranged for guitar, piano, drums, and strings. The collection adds a curious postscript to Hole Erth’s unexpected, inspired, madcap pivot into rap-rock, hyperpop, and Y2K emo.
Speaking on the album, Chaz Bear shares, “The idea to begin this project came while listening to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged record. I love how the rearrangement brought out so many intricacies of their songwriting and gave context to the original recordings and the decisions made… Americana has always been a major theme in my music. I asked myself what could be more edgy than Rap-Rock turned Alt-Country? Hole Erth and Unerthed was meant to be a dual album from the beginning, the vision is complete. Enjoy…”
Daring in its own right, Unerthed reveals a deft songwriter unguarded, inhabiting lyrics and instrumentation with uncomplicated poise and clever turns of phrase and melody. It’s a return to basics for the shapeshifting Bay Area artist, a chance to excavate and shed new light on the material. These elemental revelations have been at the core of Bear’s project all along, from his earliest CD-Rs to the many mutations of psych-funk, synth-pop, deep house, and beyond that have kept the independent music world transfixed and guessing for nearly two decades. But Unerthed sounds it out more clearly, underscoring that there has only ever been one genre here: Toro y Moi.
Unerthed: Hole Erth Unplugged is available digitally and on opaque brown vinyl
Tracklisting
1. Walking In The Rain (unerthed)
2. CD-R (unerthed)
3. HOV (unerthed)
4. Tuesday (unerthed)
5. Hollywood (unerthed)
6. Reseda (unerthed)
7. Babydaddy (unerthed)
8. Madonna (unerthed)
9. Undercurrent (unerthed)
10. Off Road (unerthed)
11. Smoke (unerthed)
12. Heaven (unerthed)
13. Starlink (unerthed)
Today kicks off Toro y Mou’s 2 Days of Music at Fernwood Resort in Big Sur, CA. Dates are below and more information can be found here.
Toro y Moi Live:
Sept 19-20 – 2 Days of Music at Fernwood Resort – Big Sur, CA