It turns out that chillwave is alive and well. At least it is in the mind of Ernest Greene, the man behind Washed Out. Now touting his third LP, ‘Mister Mellow’, it’s clear little has changed since he took up the mantle with the 2009 EP ‘Life of Leisure’.
That release spawned Feel It All Around, the dreamy, bass-heavy ditty that ended up as the theme tune to the hugely successful show Portlandia, but since then there’s not been an awful lot to shout about.
Despite positive reviews, the previous two Washed Out full lengths (2011’s ‘Within and Without’ and 2013’s ‘Paracosm’) haven’t exactly screamed progression.
That stasis may be explained by the PR blurb that accompanies ‘Mister Mellow’: “Boredom. Laziness. Complete apathy. Is it a quarter-life crisis or just an excuse to never grow up?”It doesn’t exactly fill you with hope before pressing play.
Considering that Greene was born in 1982, though, a quarter-life crisis will see him living to the ripe old age of 136, so it seems that there’s plenty of time for him to try something new. Alas, that isn’t the case here despite the record arriving with an accompanying animated film, placing it in the visual album category.
The only real change is that Washed Out is now separated from Sub Pop and releasing music via the predominantly hip-hop Stones Throw records. You’d think that this change of scene may filter through to the music, but there are few beat-driven tunes here. In fact, almost half of the record’s tracks clock in at under 90 seconds, lazily lifting samples from various vloggers, placing them onto loosely-constructed electronic loops and not really engaging with the listener.
It’s almost as though Greene has become too comfortable in his blissed-out pigeonhole and doesn’t know where to go next. Burn Out Blues - which starts the album proper after a needless intro full of coughs and laughs – picks up from where ‘Paracosm’ left off and Floating By takes us back to the early bedroom recordings and EPs when this all felt a little more relevant.
Frustratingly, a couple of songs with real promise seem to peter out just at the time you’re hoping for a hook to kick off or a beat to drop. The trip-hoppy Instant Calm is a prime example with a promising start just begging for an actual song to be attached to it. Instead, it drifts into another minute-long interlude in the form of the disco-tinged Zonked. There’s an EP's worth of decent music here - at best - but as a standalone record, ‘Mister Mellow’ really doesn’t get the job done.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
