Washed Out: Amor Fati EP

Washed Out
Amor Fati
Weird World
2011-11-07

This single, taken from Washed Out’s debut album Within and Without, is less a song than a chillwave jingle. Trading in bedsheet-thin synths and a radiant ‘80s pop ambience, bedroom songsmith Ernest Greene exhales a wafting vocal melody over an infinitely-repeating four-chord progression for more than four minutes. There’s barely a tune here–and yeah, that’s kind of the point–but regardless of the intention, the unfortunate result is that the production comes off as if it was worked out in 20 minutes. The new track “Call It Off” is similar in form, though it’s at least more memorable and has a nice stark ending, while both remixes of “Amor Fati” exhibit far more character and nuance than the original. All this means that the EP actually improves the longer one listens. Nevertheless, that upward slope in quality can’t obscure the fact that the title track remains a pretty weak A-side.

RATING 5 / 10
FROM THE POPMATTERS ARCHIVES