Album Review: Washed Out - Paracosm

Here is the review of my final travel album, 'Paracosm' by Washed Out.

Most of my travel albums will always be linked to a certain stage of my journey, depending on where and when I listened to them most. For instance, The Living End record was sent through my earphones every morning when I was walking to the Australian Open in Melbourne and Morcheeba's 'Big Calm' will forever take me back to the quiet beaches of Western Australia. However, 'Paracosm' has been played steadily throughout my entire adventure. I listened to it at The Peak in Hong Kong, during sunny evenings in Cronulla, while napping outside at Airlie Beach, in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens...

Washed Out is the moniker of electronic musician Ernest Greene. His music is often labelled as 'chillwave', which is a naff term but it correctly suggests that this is easy listening. Paracosm was an obvious choice on my list, as not only did I love Washed Out's previous album 'Within and Without', there was something about it that made it brilliant travel music. Perhaps it was the flowing tunes and care free vibe, or maybe it was just the fact that the video for the song 'Amor Fati' (an amazing song that everyone should hear) consisted of a series of travel clips. Paracosm has that same vibe and it's another great listen.
After a short introduction track, 'It All Feels Right' comes bursting in with a soaring melody that will instantly conjure up Australian memories whenever I hear it. The song sets the tone for the rest of the record - it's a peaceful, feel good sound that has you happily nodding your head. In other words, it's the perfect soundtrack for relaxing in scenic Australian locations. Following on from 'It All Feels Right' is 'Don't Give Up', a calm, positive number and then the tracks just flow into one another from there, and they're all great. With the exception of the introduction, each song has lyrics but they take a backseat here, blending into the music rather than being projected above it, so it feels much like an instrumental record.

'Paracosm' is certainly an album that works best as a whole, rather than just a collection of songs, but there is one cut that stands out - the penultimate track 'Falling Back'. While not as good as 'Amor Fati' from the previous album, it is a blissful song with a brilliant intro - the sound building into the chorus melody before projecting the song into the first verse. It's just great music that everyone should be able to appreciate no matter what their tastes are.

'Paracosm' isn't an album that will blow your mind. However, it is an album full of pleasing tunes with an at-peace-with-the-world vibe, and that makes it wonderful to travel with.

8/10