In the dead of winter in March 2010, an artist named Washed Out burst upon the scene with his second EP, entitled Life of Leisure. It’s album cover and its lo-fi-recorded-in-his-home-ready-to-burst-with-genius collection of short electronic pop tunes were shrouded in thoughts of late night warm nostalgic summer air. Drenched with memories of the care-free days of youth & evenings spent at the beach, even the name Washed Out conveyed a hazy and stoned yet beautiful existence. Most of the EP was spot on, especially with what is probably it’s most popular track, ‘Feel It All Around’ and it’s diving electro bass lines and drifting Caribbean beat (currently running as the theme song for the FX Networks TV showPortlandia), but overall there was something missing. I tended to think what it was missing was about another 6 tracks approximately, so the news this reluctant North Carolina artist (who for various reasons seemed to have the potential of just releasing one record and then disappearing) was releasing a full length was exciting and strangely almost a bit of relief, because one way or another we would get a chance to see if he was the real deal or not, for better or for worse. His music, his artwork, the whole package just connected with and spoke to me on many levels. How could the new album go wrong? Then Within and Without was released, and utter disappointment set in fast. Mostly my fault, of course. It was that potential for greatness that I had just convinced myself was going to burst with this album and I just didn’t give the album the fair shot it deserved. I wasn’t angry (my gawd I was a total ass hole in my early 20’s when a band I loved put out an album that wasn’t what I was hoping for and it would actually upset me – see Population 4 from Cranes as an example) – but I was definitely disappointed like I hadn’t felt in many a years. Luckily it wasn’t crippling – life indeed does go on. HA! But then I could see a good friend of mine – via her Gmail chat status – was still listening to this album, quite often in fact. So I decided to listen again, and slowly but surely, very slowly, bits and sounds and melodies crept into my blood stream. What at first sounded like an aimless, vapid exercise in laziness and mediocrity soon became a beautiful go-to epitome of not nostalgia for the past (as is reputation holds him to), but more of a metaphor in a sense for summer, for holiday, for the true beauty of innocence. If you let yourself get completely absorbed – whisked away if you will – this album can really take you on holiday for a good 40 minutes. Maybe it’s the 80’s underwater bass and aquatic drift of ‘Before’. Or the bursts of sunlight bouncing off the Hawaiian waters in ‘A Dedication’. Or the beach make-out yearning of ‘Eyes Be Closed’. Or the Boeing 747 take off dance rush of ‘Echoes’. There is just something deep below the surface of this album that takes a bit of time finding, but once you do find it you will see the dive was well worth it.