The music
recorded by Ernest Greene as Washed Out has been nothing if not dreamy, and on
his second full-length, Paracosm, he takes the dreamlike,
otherworldly atmospheres of his music a huge leap further.
The title
refers to a phenomenon in which people create detailed imaginary worlds, and
the idea of escaping is all over Paracosm’s
music and lyrics. Paracosm finds Greene reaching beyond the computers and synths
that filled Washed Out’s previous recordings, expanding his sonic palette to
include over 50 different instruments, the most significant of which turned out
to be old keyboards like the Mellotron, Chamberlin, Novatron, and Optigan.
“I’ve grown
as a songwriter to the point where I want to have more involved arrangements,
and that’s really hard to do with sampling,” says Greene. “These machines were
kind of a happy medium: The sounds have a very worn, distressed quality about
them, much like an old sample. But they also offer much more flexibility
because they’re playable.”
Following two
years on the road in support of the critically-acclaimed Within And Without, and
the lauded Life Of Leisure EP (which can still be heard during
“Portlandia’s” opening credits), he and his wife, Blair (who plays in the
Washed Out live band), relocated from the big-city hubbub of Atlanta to a house
outside Athens, where Greene could shut out the real world in favor of an
alternate universe of his own making. Listeners will be immediately struck by Paracosm’s seamless melding of organic
and synthetic sounds, and its lighter tone. Greene says: “I knew from the
beginning I wanted this record to be optimistic, very much a daytime-sounding
album. I think the last record felt more nocturnal in some ways. This one I
just imagined being outside, surrounded by a beautiful, natural environment.”
With its
gorgeous execution and uplifting attitude, Paracosm
is primed to be this year’s summer record. And it promises to do what its name
suggests: take listeners to a better world.
PRE-ORDER
If you
pre-order Paracosm on CD or LP,
you’ll receive the very limited-edition Washed Out 7" single, featuring
“Pull You Down” b/w “Exit” (both exclusive tracks not featured on the album),
at no charge. Speaking of limited edition vinyl, if you pre-order the record on
the larger, fidelity-maximizing LP format (by which we mean, the LP is
physically bigger and sounds richer than a CD, duh), you’ll receive the limited,
colored-vinyl Loser Edition of Paracosm.
But, as is the nature of limited things, the sooner you order, the better your
chances are of receiving them.
Release Date: August 13, 2013
