Review: Washed Out, 'Within and Without'

Review: Washed Out, 'Within and Without'

Review: Washed Out, 'Within and Without': Aidin Vaziri | The gauzy synthesizers, liquid tempos and fey vocals might conjure visions of Patrick Nagel lithographs and black lacquer panther table lamps. But Washed Out's music is more than a mere throwback to the "Miami Vice" age. On his first proper album, Ernest Greene, the one-man band who until last year was making music in a bedroom at his parents' house in Georgia, offers existential escape. Songs such as "Amor Fati," "Far Away" and "Before" are dreamy and lush, no doubt inspired by the fragrant air of the peach groves surrounding the estate. He channels the Cocteau Twins on the otherworldly "You and I" and shades of Vangelis on the woozy opener, "Eyes Be Closed," without belying that his calming elixir is totally for the here and now.