Washed Out Heaven, London 15/11/11
3/5
By: Liane Escorza
I had been containing my excitement about the prospect of seeing Washed Out aka Ernest Greene until last night, coincidentally the last date on his Within And Without tour. Considered one of the albums of the year by bloggers and press alike, my initial resistance to this lazy chill-wave, samey and curiously slugging piece of work gradually turned into an effervescent passion for its blissful zoned-out side effects. It just so happens that the tracks are presented in a pretty understated way, yet as ‘washed out’ as the sound can be, it permeates and absorbs like brush and watercolour paint on canvas and therefore, taking this anaesthetic feeling into account, I was delighted to be transported into its world.
But as it happens, with so many expectations there is also more room for failure and, in a concert setting, the reverse of the above followed. I went from enamoured to disenchanted, my admiration plummeting to depths of disappointment. There was no trace here of the cocooned self-indulgent minimalist electronica I was hoping for, no warm beats to gently nod and sway my head to, no whispering vocals to fall onto like a feather pillow under my ear.
Recruiting a backing band with instruments (such as tambourines) that do not add anything better to the mix (Ernest, you should have realised by now that, for you, less is more) was the first mistake; the second was to totally destroy Chris Isaac’s ‘Wicked Game’; the third, hyping up the beats to try to make it 80s disco instead of his modern electro style so that, I assume, people can dance a little easier? The point is that people were not there to dance at all. They were there to re-live those wondrous Washed Out moments of agreeable isolation and dreamy desires they had had when listening to the album in their car, on the sofa with a glass of wine.
Maybe this was a snappy glimpse of the way forward for Washed Out in the next coming years; but for all I know after this gig, when it comes to live performances, sometimes it’s best to deliver exactly what says on the package than jump into unknown territories.
Artists in this article: Washed Out
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