Within and Without
by Washed Out
  • Record Label: Sub Pop
  • Release Date: Jul 12, 2011
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 34
  3. Negative: 2 out of 34
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  1. Rolling Stone
    Sep 14, 2011
    70
    Greene's best trick: Using those elements of the past while crafting an album that sounds like a beautiful, dreamy future.
  2. Mojo
    Aug 26, 2011
    80
    It's music for dreaming, the keyboard equivalent to shoegaze, reinforced by its song titles and vocals mostly mixed beneath the waves to gorgeously woozy effect. [Sept. 2011, p. 97]
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  3. Q Magazine
    Aug 8, 2011
    80
    Georgia electro-popper emerges as the first star of "chillwave". [Aug. 2011, p. 122]
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  5. Blurt Magazine
    Aug 3, 2011
    80
    It's not often that an album has this much to offer, intellectually, physically and spiritually. This is not just another sterile bedroom disco experiment, far from it.
  6. CMJ
    Jul 29, 2011
    80
    Chillwave touchstones are alive and well on the record; tender, nostalgic vibes still emanate from each throwback synth pad and ethereal two-part harmony, and there's still plenty of reverb to go around.
  7. PopMatters
    Jul 26, 2011
    70
    There are things to be enjoyed on Within and Without in tiny, incremental measures, and while some may be left wanting by the lack of variation to be found within these locked grooves, there's enough moments of incandescent beauty on the record that obviously will get fans of indie pop talking – for good or nil.
  8. Delusions of Adequacy
    Jul 25, 2011
    70
    All we really want right now are some jams to soundtrack these days of eternal sunshine and oceanfront revelries. On these demands, Washed Out delivers in spades.
  9. Filter
    Jul 19, 2011
    82
    Within and Without feels tentative and restrained; Greene has toiled in the chillwave hinterlands to finally release a beautiful debut, and he's good enough to let it ride.
  10. The A.V. Club
    Jul 18, 2011
    75
    Within And Without feels designed more for meditation than dance moves. The album's freshly scrubbed beats bump insistently but gently against Greene's gauzy vocals and the occasional string interlude.
  11. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Jul 14, 2011
    80
    The resulting songs sway in and out pleasantly, but are too often as easy on the brain as they are the ears.
  12. Paste Magazine
    Jul 12, 2011
    77
    More than just a denizen of a passing trend or an artist cloaking lack of melody in reverb and fuzz, Washed Out consistently sounds like actual thought was put behind its music, which can't be said about a lot of its so-called peers.
  13. The Boston Phoenix
    Jul 12, 2011
    88
    Within and Without is chillwave 2.0. It takes the same hazy late-night bedroom synthpop, but amps it up exponentially, with live instruments (cello, bass, violins, drums), guidance from superstar producer Ben Allen (who co-produced Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion and Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest), and more meticulously crafted songs.
  14. Under The Radar
    Jul 11, 2011
    80
    Washed Out, despite the label and increasing popularity, still feels like a secret, a hallmark of the best bedroom pop.
  15. Beats Per Minute
    Jul 11, 2011
    71
    So while the stylistic homogeneity erodes its high points, and it sometimes feels like one giant song, Within and Without harbours some rich, emotive sounds under its monochrome canopy.
  16. Pitchfork
    Jul 11, 2011
    83
    Within and Without is an excellent demonstration of what happens when, even after the buzz-band cycle has faded, you continue to investigate a sound on your own hushed, ambitious terms.
  17. Spin
    Jul 11, 2011
    90
    For his full-length debut, Greene teams with producer Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley) to revisit his '80s reveries, crafting Balearic bliss ("Eyes Be Closed") and refreshing New Romantic flounce ("Amor Fati"). He even invigorates '90s trip-hop's head-nod ("Before," the title track), making for an even better coast soundtrack.
  18. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Jul 11, 2011
    70
    It's more pleasant than arresting.
  19. musicOMH.com
    Jul 8, 2011
    90
    They've succeeded in making an album that does well to second-guess its listener, whilst never disowning the sound that first brought Greene to the foreground. "Chillwave" might be dead and buried, but Washed Out has only just set foot in the water.
  20. Clash Music
    Jul 8, 2011
    80
    The sound of bliss.
  21. Slant Magazine
    Jul 8, 2011
    80
    Much as its title suggests, Within and Without is a juxtaposition, matching an assortment of warm, decades-old retrograde styles with the despondent, isolated, and decidedly modern mood of Greene's alienated narratives.
  22. Drowned In Sound
    Jul 8, 2011
    80
    Washed Out always stood above his supposed peers; the more he progresses out of his shell, the farther his voice will soar clear of the soon-to-break wave of generalised chillwave nonsense.
  23. The Guardian
    Jul 8, 2011
    80
    For an artist at the forefront of the post-shoegazing movement called chillwave (presumably after a lengthy struggle to come up with a worse name for a genre than shoegazing), Greene's synth-heavy music has less to do with Slowdive than It's My Life-era Talk Talk: what Within and Without most recalls is something taped off the radio in 1984, songs glimpsed through layers of medium wave interference and tape hiss.

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Most Shared Album of 2011

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 50
  3. Negative: 3 out of 50
  1. j30
    Aug 15, 2011
    3
    Not terrible, but nothing spectacular. You turn the record on and you think it's not too bad. Then you forget about it. An hour passes and youNot terrible, but nothing spectacular. You turn the record on and you think it's not too bad. Then you forget about it. An hour passes and you realize you had been listening to something. That's when you say f*** it and move onto better things.… Full Review »
  2. AdmiralSalmon
    Jul 18, 2011
    10
    Harsh, Deathromp. I quite liked it. Ernest Greene has built upon the sound that made his 2009 debut so successful and fun. A carefree LP forHarsh, Deathromp. I quite liked it. Ernest Greene has built upon the sound that made his 2009 debut so successful and fun. A carefree LP for the remainder of Summer and beyond with one of the finest singles of the summer: "Eyes Be Closed". Impressive stuff from the young Georgian.… Full Review »
  3. Deathromp
    Jul 13, 2011
    0
    Quasi-sophisticated muzak for those who'd rather not listen to music... catatonia for the catatonic. At the turn of the 21st century, tackyQuasi-sophisticated muzak for those who'd rather not listen to music... catatonia for the catatonic. At the turn of the 21st century, tacky ambient compilations emblazoned with the garish words 'chill', 'lounge', 'chill-out'... or sometimes 'buddha' sprung onto the cd racks of our less keen relatives/ friends houses - terrestrial taste at it's finest. We were always polite enough to vocalize our endorsement of Massive Attack, Sigur Ros, or Radiohead (prior to the faintly audible remix). Then... there was 'chill wave': a now legitimate genre - a collation of synthpop, house, trip-hop, ambient... just more faceless and muted - than ever. And Sub Pop approves. The boundaries between art and commerce have officially vanished.… Full Review »
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