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Washed Out Returns to Tropical Paradise on Lush ‘Don’t Give Up’

Washed Out, "Don't Give Up," lyric video

“Get a drink, have a good time now,” a voice advises on the title track from the Avalanches’ sample-stuffed 2000 beach-disco masterpiece Since I Left You. The advice works just as well for Ernest Greene’s latest track as Washed Out, from August 13 Sub Pop album Paracosm.

“Don’t Give Up,” like previously shared “It All Feels Right,” has spoken-word chatter and an exotica undertow that harks back to the Australian super-producers. “Since we said goodbye,” the Georgia-based singer and songwriter even coos at one point, recalling the Avalanches’ classic title; “It feels so right,” he sings at another, coming close to the title of his own recent track. And yet, as on “It All Feels Right,” the warm-weather fantasy feels as real as the verses’ wistful emotions.”This record was intended as a sonic world to escape to for 45 minutes,” Greene told SPIN about Paracosm.

Paradoxically enough, the guy perhaps most associated with the quasi-genre known as chillwave has now come up with a couple of tracks fully worthy of the name. So there’s just one question: What kind of beer does this resort serve?