“Feel It All Around” by Washed Out, Monday, October 11, 2021

You wouldn't expect it, but the musical master of bedroom pop, the so-called "godfather of chillwave," has a faint southern accent when you hear him in interviews. Hearing "Feel It All Around" as the theme to Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein's surrealist parody of the hipster town on the West Coast, made me think that Ernest Weatherly Green, Jr., the creative force behind Washed Out, was from a more secular part of the country. I talked about the rise of the Perry, Georgia native earlier this year when I discussed Washed Out's song, "Burn Out Blues." But today we return to where it all started in the summer of 2009 and the September 17-minute EP Life of Leisure.

YOU FEEL THE THOUGHT OF LOVE AGAIN. On the cover of Life of Leisure, there is a picture of Greene's wife, Blair, who is part of the touring band accompanying Greene. The album cover captures a feeling: swimming in the early evening sun. Besides being interested in electronic music, Greene enjoys the visual arts, taking photographs and taking an active roll in the band's videos. Several album covers have captured a similar feeling in recent years. Linkin Park's One More Light, has similar colors, depicting several people walking into the ocean, toward the light. Last year, Acceptance's Wild, Free gave Northwestern Washed Out vibes on the monochrome album cover, showing a woman swimming in somewhat deeper, more foreboding waters. Washed Out's album cover, though, helps the listener relax. There are no twists, though there is certainly elements in the music that pull the subconscious into deeper relaxation. The Guardian gives the best description of Washed Out's genre: "Conjured up largely by shy young men in their bedrooms, chillwave has all the hallmarks of ambient, post-clubbing fodder, yet it is frequently far smarter than that. At its best, the genre plays tricks with our emotions, using sounds that evoke nostalgia for a period that the listener has never lived through."

YOU KNOW IT'S YOURS AND NO ONE ELSE. But chillwave isn't the only kind of lo-fi, bedroom music. Washed Out relies heavily on sampling. "Feel It All Around" is based on a 1983 Italian disco song, "I Want You" by Gary Low. Sampling is a fun concept for making music. Some songs and albums are composed completely of samples taken from previously recorded artists. Dan Koch, the drummer of the band Sherwood-turned commercial jingle composer/podcaster released an album based purely on samples earlier this year called Havana Swim Club, many of the songs sound chill-wave. The same year as Washed Out's debut, Owl City's hit "Fireflies" hit the top 40. While Owl City isn't usually classified as chillwave, there are similarities between Adam Young and Ernest Greene-both primarily electronic, millennial one-man-bands, producing music in their parents' homes. This was also the year of David Guetta's breakthrough album, One Love. It was a time when DJs were taking more spots in the Hot 100. A few years later, M83 and Gotye broke through to the pop charts. Sure, solo artists had been a thing since the inception of popular music and rock 'n' roll, but bedroom pop, lo-fi music, and a number of growing genres, plus technology getting cheaper, created an era of music that could be created on the Internet and didn't even have to tour. Musical purists--instrumentalists--might ask if it's real music. I have to say, I'm fascinated watching videos of M83, Sylvan Esso, Linkin Park, and so many others playing around with their electronic gear. It's a brave new world out there.

https://genius.com/Washed-out-feel-it-all-around-lyrics

Gary Low's "I Want You":