Washed Out Does a Commendable Job Pushing Cleansing Oxygen In

The front porch is, if you're fortunate enough to have a quality paper delivery service, the place where your morning news lies waiting to greet you (unless you look online exclusively in which case this was just a cutesy little stroll down memory lane). It can signal the new beginning to a new day. Ernest Greene who goes by the stage name Washed Out couldn't be presenting his persona in any less of an accurate light with his new "Paracosm" release. The definition of paracosm is " a prolonged fantasy world invented by children. You can make out the droopiness of a child's dream world on every single track. "Entrance" swings the guileless door upon to the familiar sounds of chirping birds and the natural wonders surrounding them. Washed Out does a great job preparing us for the disarming trip to come. "It All Feels Right" dilutes all show of sentimentality in the right way but trains its steady eye on friendship and meeting back up to rekindle the connections that never really ebbed regardless of where on the globe the players traipsed off to. "Don't Give Up" ushers in a street party level of handsome production but this jewel's really about grasping that spark of resolve to hang on to a romance that's seen better times. "Weightless" is just that, a weightless curiosity not unlike a balloon after a five-year old has been amused enough by it and is now ready to part with its novelty value. Being buoyed high above the hardscrabble fray is a valuable temptation in the employ of Washed Out. He likes to employ enough mischievous key strokes with this package to remind us we're visiting the corridors of a child's fantasy but, we adults if we possess the necessary bravery, are more than welcome to tag along for the ride. "All I Know" is a poppy, touchable winner bringing an engaging bass and tambourine sensibility percussion to the dream community. The keyboards here tug at the ears in innocent malevolence. It's all in the name of reminding us we're among friends. Time to take off the mask that adulthood forces us to wear to advance career, pleasure the spouse, or enforce the law with the children. Perhaps you have been waiting all your life to escape from it all? "Great Escape" senses you'd like to leave the world for a bit. The synths easily hearken back to "Electricity" era OMD. These keyboards are mere paint brushes meant to keep this overall fantasy realm from backsliding into unforgivable blandness. "Falling Back" doesn't skimp on the fantasy extravagance. This selection is just washed new car shiny, aglow in chipper guitars and sequined panache plucked straight from a moonbeam. "All Over Now' spells out the finality of breaking clean with one's fears. No feet touch the ground. High above the din, new directions are ready to be forged. Next time you pluck the paper from the mat on the front porch consider Washed Out's "Paracosm" to be just a crisp as that opening plunge into the new day, the new stories, the new potential. "Paracosm" is drowsy in spots but its take on the universe is refreshingly wide awake like the best moments of a new morning.