For the next 30 days, I’ll be taking the #AprilAcrossAmerica challenge, picking one song a day as I make my way across the country and across genres at the same time.

Day 14: Columbia, SC

Continuing my journey down south with a stopover in Columbia. It’s Chaz’s hometown. Where he went to high school - and formed a band. He also stayed local for college, majoring in graphic design at the University of South Carolina, before turning his focus to music. These are not the kinds of sounds you expect to come out of the region. Chaz didn’t just borrow the template. He’s one of the first names I think of and associate with chillwave and ambient.

Toro y Moi has always surprised me with what he’s able to accomplish with a synthesizer, extracting sounds and arrangements I’ve never heard before. “Rose Quartz” is maybe one of the best examples of his experimental side. It explores. It grooves. The synth orchestration washes over you in one instance and delicately brushes past you in another. It’s one of those tracks that defies genre labeling because there’s simply nothing like it.

“And if I fall into the sea, don't let me go.”