Chaz Bundick’s been flexing his songwriting muscles a lot lately. Under the guise of Les Sins on last year’s Michael and now on his fourth long-player as Toro y Moi, What For? (Carpark Records), Bundick’s usually couch-locked music has been increasingly gravitating towards indie rock. He never goes in 100% rock & roll, however, and this might in some ways be the downside to What For. As an artisan of pure vibe music, Bundick’s slightly rock-leaning approach on What For comes off as muted, middle-of-the-road, and frankly, mostly forgettable.

The increased rock texture doesn’t come out of leftfield: Bundick has always been impressively versatile while cultivating the sort of lush scenery in which it’s easy to get trapped. Toro y Moi gets the new approach right here a couple times on “Half Dome” and “Run Baby Run,” whose understated pop melodies run like a Big Star tune if Alex Chilton attempted funk standards like “Atomic Dog.” Those moments aside, the rest of the record rolls out a jumbled, retro sound that varies among disco, funk, and ‘60s pop with little to show for its diversity.

As Bundick’s vocals have inched closer and closer to the forefront of Toro y Moi, they have supplied increased amounts of depth to his music and become an essential component of his songwriting. Bundick’s voice is about as prominent here as it was on predecessor Anything in Return, but the lines that peek out (“Rock & roll is here to stay,” on “Ratcliff” and “Every day’s like this. No one gets nowhere,” on “Lilly,” for example) solidify the record’s flatness. These lyrics are indicative of the larger character of What For, which is uncharacteristically passive for an artist attempting to focus on his songwriting more than vibe.