Washed Out
Within and Without
Perry, GA
“The chillest of chillwave”
Ernest Greene has released three phenomenal EPs under the moniker Washed Out since 2009. The buzz generated by what started out as a bedroom project, escalated Greene to blog stardom, as the fuzzy, synthetic genre known as chillwave blew up in the indie scene.
Sub Pop quickly picked up the young multi-instrumentalist, and anticipation for an LP left bloggers and audiences foaming at the mouth. With the help of producer Ben Allen (Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion and Deerhunter’s Halcyon Digest), Greene took the hip-hop, remix-influenced aesthetic from his critically acclaimed EPs and expounded on it by adding more layers to his wall of sound, producing a rich, full debut.
Album opener, and first single, “Eyes Be Closed,” is a spot-on representation of the album. The track begins with warbling, reverb-drenched synthesizer that robust drum machine beats swiftly accompany. Hazy loops come in, and finally, Greene’s smoothly mumbled vocals. As the instrumentation builds upon itself, the music does not become overwhelming; it is calm and collected. The balmy nature of this track translates in every subsequent track, evoking nostalgia and warm, summer nights, making this July release a perfectly timed record. (Sub Pop)
Produced by Ben H Allen and Ernest Greene //Mixed by Ben H Allen at Maze Studios, ATL // Recorded by John Maskew and Rob Skipworth