(THE classic Washed Out track)
This album starts off with one of many instrumental tracks, “Title Card”. Now here, there are certainly some nice synths and some cool tones and all. But the coughing in the background alongside the implication that smoking Pot is looked at as “The Cute”, makes this one seriously flat. It’s 30 seconds of more or less a waste. “Burn Out Blues” up next at the very least has a little structure to it. I do enjoy the sort of bouncy rhythms on this one as well as the slick bass lines. However, when Ernest’s vocals come in, all I have to say is “Come on, man”. I’ve been listening to Washed Out for years, and I’ve been waiting for this album for a few of those years. But seriously, the vocals here are pathetic. Ernest has never been a riveting singer, but his usually very dreamy vocals used to mesh so seamlessly with his broad and spacey atmosphere. But on “Burn Out Blues”, his vocals just come off as lazy. The funkier licks are certainly interesting and add a nice groove to Washed Out’s music, but there’s a serious disconnect here. Some of the breezier, later vocals are certainly an improvement. But after all of these years, I feel like Washed Out needs to seriously give us a little more. I actually dig some of the more Low Fi grooves on “Time Off” that harken right back to his “High Times” EP. But first of all, this track really should have been it’s own standalone idea, not just some short little instrumental afterthought. I don’t mind interludes and instrumentals that break up an album. But these constant distractions really aren’t doing anything for me, especially after how long I’ve been dying to hear this album. But “Time Off” isn’t done with us yet, no sir. No, we have to sit through another asinine voiceover that does absolutely nothing for me. Washed Out, man where the hell is the content? Thankfully, Washed Out does start to get his act together with “Floating By”. Switching over to Stones Throw as a record label has certainly had a huge effect on Ernest. I do really like a lot of the jazzy undertones here that blend seriously well with his usual very ethereal, chilled out blend of electronic music. Here, Ernest’s vocals are right back to meshing seamlessly with his instrumentals, and it’s actually glorious. The production is slick, the grooves are really nice, hell if we heard more of this I would have been seriously much more inviting to this album. Hell, this even sounds like Ernest has grown as an artist. His vocals actually sound seriously great here. And while I still really don’t care for some of those vocal samples, there are enough good moments here to make “Floating By” work wonderfully.
This album floats on with “I’ve Been Daydreaming My Entire Life”. A Lot of these tracks actually have a seriously great foundation, like the strings on this one that actually come off quite stunning. The very laid back and jazzy beat that follows Washed Out is so unbelievably Stones Throw it isn’t even funny. It’s spacey and gloomy, and most importantly mellow. But for my liking, it’s a little too spacey and mellow. Like, this is certainly an improvement, but I feel like I’m getting almost nothing from this very dreamy performance. Even in the past, Ernest to me has always had a purpose. But on this album, I’m not too sure if he does. However, “Hard to Say Goodbye” wakes me right up and slaps me right in the face, and shows us all just how good this album could have been. I love the sort of disco feel to this. It’s still chilled out and dreamy, but for and upbeat Washed Out track, this works wonderfully. It’s got some seriously great grooves, some funky bass, and some glistening production. Even Ernest’s vocals on this one sound seriously hip. “Hard To Say Goodbye” is a very different sort of track for Washed Out, one that I really wasn’t expecting to hear. But it’s one that I’m glad he brought to the table. Hell, this one could maybe even get a little club airplay. But then I hear “Down and Out”, and I’m reminded by just how awful this album was put together. What is with all of these under two minute distractions? Why do they literally go nowhere? This album barely has any concept to it, outside of a very soft theme of Pot Smoking. But seriously, come on. These interludes continue to be completely torturous. They’re even more torturous when I hear just how decent tracks like “Instant Calm” turn out. Here, the very dreary and somber attitude of everything seriously brings me into the atmosphere of this one. It’s sluggish, but that bass heavy groove and strong synth work reminds us we’re dealing with Washed Out. In a way, “Instant Calm” almost sounds like a revised, cleaner produced single from his “High Times” EP. So it’s not like Ernest has lost everything, and as far as an interlude goes, this one brings things together nicely.
The last thing I needed to hear at this point in the album, was another damn interlude. But nonetheless, “Zonked” is up next. And while this one certainly has a nice groove to it, the vocal snippets once again do nothing for me. “Zonked” comes off as just another one minute distraction that comes off laughably incomplete. What in the hell was Washed Out even thinking? However, with “Get Lost”, Washed Out reminds us just how much he’s found something special with these upbeat and dance oriented tracks. I can’t stress enough, this is a direction that I really never thought Ernest would go in. But to be honest, it’s probably the best sound he’s been working with on here. The grooves are slick, and once again there’s almost a disco feel to this. But like I said, it’s certainly bringing out the best in Ernest’s very breezy vocals. Overall, “Get Lost” has some really great ideas, and overall I feel like there might be a whole lot more solid material coming our way from Washed Out if Ernest sticks with this. I also continue to really dig the very low key jazz undertones. There are once again, a whole lot of vocal snippets that usually do nothing for me. But at least there’s some substance on this one to make them much more interesting. But Washed Out balances all of this out with BY FAR the dumbest and worst interlude here by far, “Easy Does It”. Now I don’t know if I’m missing something monumental, but there is literally nothing to this track. This easily could have been an extra minute dedicated to another track. And seriously, I don’t know if Ernest thinks he’s making some big Pot Smoking statement, but he’s really not. Mercifully, Ernest does end this album off on a particularly high note with “Million Miles Away”. I actually seriously dig the atmosphere on this one, which is just so sunny and sweet that it would have actually been a great vibe for a whole lot of the album actually. Hell, you can even call the atmosphere on this one Mellow, go figure. As far as the instrumental goes, this may be the closest thing to a classing sounding Washed Out track we’ve heard yet/ I love the very glitzy production, as well as Ernest’s return to this very hazy and dreary vocal delivery. I hear tracks like this and I really get upset that there wasn’t more like this on the album to be honest. But I still do have hope for the future.
Rating: 6.4/10
Give A Listen To - “Floating By”, "Hard To Say Goodbye", "Get Lost", "Million Miles Away"
Overall Thoughts: Whoa boy was this ever disappointing. It's been years since we've heard from Washed Out. My first worry was just how short this album was. Does this album have enough good tracks to justify how short it is? And then there's the point that half of these tracks here are minute long interludes that really shouldn't exist to be honest. But they do. And the results, are absolutely a mess. This is by far Washed Out's least consistent work ever. Yea, there are some really great tracks on here. But the majority of this is absolutely laughable. However, all of that being said, I think Washed Out is on to something with his recent switch to the Stones Throw record label.
No comments:
Post a Comment