Washed Out Leak

                Washed Out leaked. If you’re reading this, you know. Or if you don’t, get on top of it. Ernest Greene didn’t disappoint with this one. Most chillwave artists tried to stray away from their roots. You can’t imagine my happiness at Washed Out doing basically the same thing he did with his EPs albeit a slight change: There are less sample-based songs.  That’s the biggest evolution for him. Familiarity with his EPs is a must to see where he came from. If you’re unfamiliar, get familiar in particular “All Around You” perhaps the best song of his early work. People will be talking about this new album for quite some time. 

                I judge artists partially on how early their albums leak. An earlier leak indicates a greater anticipation and a possible criminal element within their fan base (depending on your judgment of leakers). Other chillwave artists leaked pretty early: Neon Indian’s album leaked a whole blog year (blog year = three months) before the album was due. By the time Pitchfork reviewed it saying how great the album was readers were like “Thanks for keeping me up to date with the latest news. Next you’ll tell me about the Wright brothers’ new invention called “the aero plane”.  Washed Out leaked pretty early. That bodes well for the project and for a continuing interest in Mr. Greene. Here’s where I admit Ernest’s self-releases of a few tracks kind made it pretty easy to figure out how this was going to sound. Nonetheless, considering all his previous releases were only EPs that’s a very good thing. He’ll be selling out shows wherever he goes, playing all his smooth, lovely songs. 

                Most other chillwave acts have a bit more of a direct, dance-pop influence. For example, Neon Indian wants you to get up and dance. Neon Indian wants you to take acid with him. All sorts of unmentionable things occur in Neon’s sound, perhaps too many unmentionable, potentially life-changing things. Washed Out deals with smaller details: how to hug, how to make love, etc. Perhaps these won’t change your life, but the nine songs make for excellent ‘make out’ or ‘love making’ music. It is a gentler sound, less dance based than rock based music. Think shoegaze. 

                How will others react to this? Will this be the album that saves the flailing genre ‘chillwave’? I feel it is chill enough; at least it will be until Neon Indian comes out with his new album. Unfortunately Neon Indian’s release may overshadow this quiet, understated album. We’ll have to see; each one has influential newspapers, blogs, bloggers, magazines, TV and other important sources of buzz. Ernest did do those Adult Swim bumps which help along with the intro song of IFC’s ‘Portlandia’. So at least Washed Out has a serious presence on Television, the laziest form of media. Can Washed Out and Neon Indian live in harmony? I think they can. Listening to this album, Washed Out seems pretty chill. With “Within and Without” Ernest solidifies his credentials as the ‘father of chillwave’. Respect your elders. 

Washed Out is Not Washed Up

               Ernest Greene (better known as the first chillwaver) decided the waves needed to get a bit chiller: he’s announced the release of his first album. As his music is so heavily focused on the summer, the July 12^th release date on Sub Pop makes sense. Hopefully, just as the summer begins to drag on, we’ll have his sweet “With and Without” album to give lazy afternoons a better soundtrack.

                I can’t express the joy I have at reporting such good news. Forever has gone by since chillwave began with Ernest, a mild-mannered librarian from Perry, Georgia. He seduced us with spaced-out vocals and reverb, so much reverb. Reverb got reverbed, up to the point where you wondered the origin of such dreamy sounds. 

                Singles have been Washed Out’s stock and trade. Thankfully most of the album’s track list appears to be brand-new material. Having an album consist of nothing but a collection of EPs always feels lazy to me, Panda Bear, Uffie, and Real Estate fell into that trap. Obviously I feel dramatically different emotions regarding those three albums, but I do admit to enjoying a surprise.

                Washed Out doesn’t exactly seem terribly interested in surprises. In fact, the biggest surprise I could hear from Washed Out would be a continuation of his old sound, the sound that introduced “Portlandia” on IFC (It’s All Around You). Lately a great deal of chillwave bands have shunned that moniker, with Toro Y Moi going towards a full band sound, Ducktails taking a more tangible approach, and I’m not sure what Neon Indian will do, but I’m assuming he too will try to move behind his old sound. 

                Right now only one of the nine songs is out (You and I), the Adult Swim single with Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek, is the one people have already heard. Everything else will be brand new. I hope the rest of the songs are as good as these five minutes. With further ado, I present to you the song “You and I” available for download. See the below for the rest of the track list:

Washed Out, Within and Without:

1. Eyes Be Closed

2. Echoes

3. Amor Fati

4. Soft

5. Far Away

6. Before

7. You and I

8. Within and Without

9. A Dedication