WASHED OUT IT ALL FEELS RIGHT

Well well well well, it is some more music as usual. Except this time it's not as "as usual" as you'd think because it involves a quite drastic style change of the person I am writing about. Yes, that's right: it's Washed Out (aka Ernest Greene). I first encountered this guy, not actually in real life but musically, like two years ago when I wrote about his song 'Eyes Be Closed' which came from his debut album Within Without. That stuff is very different from what I have discovered today. Yes. It seems as though Mr Greene has eschewed (what a horrible word, I hate it) the majorly reverb soaked Balearic slowdown of his older material in favour of something a whole lot more acoustic. It's still down-tempo and it's still chilled out but it's different yo it's just different - mind you, I'm judging this all from one song: 'It All Feels Right'.

Yeah. And I suppose since lyric videos mostly always end up getting made, why not make a lyric video to begin with?

In the general sound of this track there is a whole lot more that lends itself to trippy psychedelic rock than to what is known as "chillwave" as such. The drums sound a lot more 'live' for a start, and there are other tangible sounds like a rambling acoustic guitar in there somewhere, as well as woody strings that provide a triumphant kinda vibe. However when it comes to the musical change after the refrain "It all feels right..." everything turns a whole lot more trippy, blissful sounds rain down, and everything could just as well be playing underwater or in space with that kind of atmosphere change. A little bit Animal Collective y'know.

It is a stark change. A direction that I neither expected nor desired but one that, now that it's happened, ain't 'alf bad. Only joking, it is really nice. Smooth and liquidy. Positive and all-encompassing. A sound that definitely reflects the fact that it all feels right, so don't worry. And still there are those vocals which don't seem to come from anywhere, all adrift in a very wide sea of sound.

Whew. And and and: it comes from his NEW ALBUM which is coming out 12th August and is called Paracosm.

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WASHED OUT EYES BE CLOSED

Washed Out (aka Ernest Greene) is a fantastic new star in the world of chillwave, lo-fi, bedroom-producing artists who are storming music blogs the world over. In a wonderful culture of give-and-receive, Washed Out has remixed and been remixed a number of times, and the music that comes of it is nothing short of astoundingly beautiful, stark and dreamy.

Greene's own stuff is phenomenal. Taking influence from hip-hop, he creates a strong eye-watering beat and layers delayed and reverbed synths and samples to build for his listeners a world awash with music that takes you away in currents of soaring modulation; 'Eyes Be Closed' - the single from his fresher than fresh new album Within And Without (released 12th July) - is no exception to this unspoken rule.

'Eyes Be Closed'


Beginning with a super slowed Balearic-style synth that reeks of Cafe Mambo at sunset hour, an offbeat hip-hop drumtrack comes in to give it some seriously beefy foundations. It sounds a little like a lo-fi Mylo - it has that same summery hypnosis-induced lying-on-grass-watching-clouds-in-a-trance kind of feel to it. Following a repetitive synth breakdown at about 2:50, the main refrain of the song blasts over again until the end, featuring crash cymbals that sound like I'd imagine they'd sound having been caught on film in super slowmotion. It's a track that's not very hard to fall in love with, addictive as it is in equal parts gentle and brimming with potential energy.


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