The arrival of Washed Out’s Paracosm, is the follow up to his debut album, Within and Without. The album will be available on CD, LP and digitally on August 12th in UK & Europe via Weird World and in North America on August 13th via Sub Pop. Paracosm, led by the single “It All Feels Right,”  was recorded by Ernest Greene with returning producer Ben Allen in Athens and Atlanta, Georgia.

The music recorded by Ernest Greene as Washed Out has been nothing if not dreamy, but for his second full-length, he’s taken the idea of letting your mind wander to another state a huge leap further. On Paracosm, the Georgia-based musician explores the album’s namesake phenomenon, where people create detailed imaginary worlds. The concept has been used to describe fantasy lands like Tolkien’s Middle Earth and C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, and it’s at the heart of the 2004 documentary In The Realms Of The Unreal about outsider artist Henry Darger.

The idea of escaping is all over Paracosm’s lyrics, and it’s also the main thrust behind the music, which finds Greene distancing himself from the modes and methods that informed Washed Out’s previous recordings. No, he hasn’t thrown away his computer or synths, but Greene made a conscious decision to expand his sonic palette, which resulted in the employment of more than 50 different instruments, the most significant of which turned out to be old keyboards like the Mellotron, Chamberlin, Novatron, and Optigan. Designed during the middle of last century and made up of prerecorded sounds with individual notes sampled for each key of the chromatic scale (the flute sound in The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” is a well-known example of the Mellotron in action), these relics allowed Greene to use his sampling expertise while also offering the flexibility to explore new creative avenues.

Washed Out has some festival appearances scheduled in support of Paracosm to mention at this time: August 24th in Monterey, CA for First City Festival; August 25th in Los Angeles, CA for FYF Fest; August 31st in Seattle, WA for Bumbershoot; and September 14th in Detroit, MI for Laneway Festival.  There will be additional live dates announced shortly.

Tour Dates:

Aug. 24 – Monterey, CA – First City Festival

Aug. 25 – Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest

Aug. 31 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot Festival

Sep. 14 – Detroit, MI – Laneway Festival

http://washedout.net