Paracosm, in referral to the handy online wikis of the web, is any self-created fantasy World whereby humans, animals and any other sentient form of life (fictitious or not) coexist. If tracks like Amor Fati or A Dedication were any signal, Ernest Greene's direction is one of deducing the emotion of such child-fond scenery as well as being able to resurface it from out many a broad-20's eternally-young inner self. Whether it be the beat-strung bliss of the former, or the piano-looped heart-tug of the latter, Within & Without was one of the better-executed, but more-so better-enduing summer records of 2011. With Paracosm, Sub Pop appear to have the wind in their sails when it comes to finding the freshest, induced sounds of contemporary electronica. If hype and anticipation are any estimate, Greene's lead track, It All Feels Right, may well be another one to consider for the built-in CD players. But for the first time, the Georgia-based musician and producer takes his sound into more discoverable and withheld concerns of the summer environment working against rather than for him. The resulting track then, is a great insight into Greene's emotional suggestion as an avid summer fan himself.
The four-minute swirling collage of flowers and painterly tones the lyric video offers, actually well-represents Washed Out's more prominent and tackled piece to date. Here, Greene's role put on synthesizers is lesser in soaked, hazed texture, but more charmingly rhythmic and coastal more-so. The lead bat of snare drums and softening bass alike show Washed Out as entering more gestural territory, but vocally offering us an insightful honesty perhaps to the personal ambition of letting a good moment last as long as it can. Here, the focus is on the sentimental enjoyment of open-top car rides and close company; Greene a lot more open, and slightly desirable in his tone because of it. Where the track sees an opening out of the acoustic leads and simplicity of drum beats (synth and percussion alike), the way the song drops back unapologetic into its slower, crisp, synth retreats suggests too some potential creeping-up of a more despondent and concerning vibe in Greene's presence as an individual as much as he is the architect of such sounds.
Overall, Washed Out's slightly more pop-structural, clearer sequencing of instrumentation leaves me with the feeling that Paracosm could potentially be the subject-varied and humanly-honest record chillwave has been lacking as of late. Here in the UK we're having an incredible run of good fortune in the weather department and while I'm not exactly the most explicitly sweat-desperate of human beings, even I will gladly open myself to the colourful haze of reflective bliss Greene has already so lavishly presented. Let's hope Washed Out can carry his previous intimacy of electronics and close-proximity atmospherics through onto a sophomore which, by definition of the word, could be as detailed and imaginative as any child's lucrative fantasy. Paracosm lets loose 13th August.
~Jordan
The four-minute swirling collage of flowers and painterly tones the lyric video offers, actually well-represents Washed Out's more prominent and tackled piece to date. Here, Greene's role put on synthesizers is lesser in soaked, hazed texture, but more charmingly rhythmic and coastal more-so. The lead bat of snare drums and softening bass alike show Washed Out as entering more gestural territory, but vocally offering us an insightful honesty perhaps to the personal ambition of letting a good moment last as long as it can. Here, the focus is on the sentimental enjoyment of open-top car rides and close company; Greene a lot more open, and slightly desirable in his tone because of it. Where the track sees an opening out of the acoustic leads and simplicity of drum beats (synth and percussion alike), the way the song drops back unapologetic into its slower, crisp, synth retreats suggests too some potential creeping-up of a more despondent and concerning vibe in Greene's presence as an individual as much as he is the architect of such sounds.
Overall, Washed Out's slightly more pop-structural, clearer sequencing of instrumentation leaves me with the feeling that Paracosm could potentially be the subject-varied and humanly-honest record chillwave has been lacking as of late. Here in the UK we're having an incredible run of good fortune in the weather department and while I'm not exactly the most explicitly sweat-desperate of human beings, even I will gladly open myself to the colourful haze of reflective bliss Greene has already so lavishly presented. Let's hope Washed Out can carry his previous intimacy of electronics and close-proximity atmospherics through onto a sophomore which, by definition of the word, could be as detailed and imaginative as any child's lucrative fantasy. Paracosm lets loose 13th August.
~Jordan
