Chaz Bundick of Toro y Moi decided to put out a new album, Michael, for his side project called Le Sins.

I can’t say I’m completely disappointed with this new sound, but I am no where near satisfied. Nonetheless, there are a few tracks I enjoy from Michael, so much so that they are saved on my Spotify profile.

Here is a track by track review of Michael.

1. Talk About: This track opens the album with a very discordant melody. I began to fear instantly that Le Sins really wasn’t up to my taste.

2. Past: The mysterious synth vibe and ominous vocals really take over in this song, bringing back memories of spooky Halloween nights.

3. Toy: This song features an interesting flute melody. I’m really not used to Chaz Bundick’s use of such instrumentation but I can live with this.

4. Why feat. Nate Salaman: Here is where I started to have faith that this album might not be so bad. “Why” is my fave track on this album. It’s closest to his old style of music. I love how Nate Salman sings “Why do you wanna go there?/ Tell me you need me here.”

5. Bother: I find this track quite funny because the song has an annoying ring to it. I sure won’t bother listening to this one again.

6. Minato: I’m wondering if the title of this song is a  reference to city of Minato in Tokyo? The intro features weird screeching sounds. I wasn’t really into this one.

7. Bellow: This song is also reminiscent of his old sound. It features autotuned vocals, but I’m not too sure if they are Chaz’s…

8. Sticky: A cool set of  synth horns really make this track stand out. The sudden beat change at around 2:30 is worth noting as well.

9. Call: This track baffles me. It’s literally a female voice saying “Oh” repeatedly from start to end. The song has a bit of a party vibe throughout.

10. Drop: The spirit of Halloween comes back to life with this song’s ominous synth chords and fast paced percussion.

11. Do right: The album ends with a very slow chilled vibe. This song’s piano melody is prevalent. He does a sort of discordant arrangement with the piano chords that suits his style well.

Overall, I think Le Sins is an interesting side project for Chaz Bundick. I’m curious to know whether he will ever go back to making music as Toro y Moi. I loved Anything in Return and Michael was a bit of a stray from that old sound I fell in love with when I first started listening to Toro y Moi.

And I’m still left with one burning question: who the hell is Michael?