Within and Without

Within and Without is the debut studio album by Washed Out and was released on July 6, 2011 by the record label Sub Pop.

In an extensive interview with self-titled, Ernest Greene said at the beginning of the writing:

I struggled with the direction at first, because I wasn’t exactly sure what a ‘Washed Out song’ was. Most of the stuff I tried at first was too psychedelic or too dance-inspired.

Regarding possible influences, he commented:

I made a list of references; a lot of which were early ’90s pop songs, like downtempo-leaning ones from Madonna, Seal or P.M. Dawn. I wanted to move away from the heavy analog synth sounds that are all the rage these days in favor of more digital-sounding textures, and also feature very repetitive drum breaks, which were very popular in the ’90s. That being said, we were very careful not to take these influences too far, so I hope it’s not too obvious from first listen.

In contrast to the Life of Leisure EP, the instrumental scope is broader, including cello, piano, and brass instruments. The sound on Within and Without is also remarkably cleaner than the fuzzy, scraping, vintage-drenched sound of Life of Leisure.

The album title expresses Greene’s feeling while recording the album:

I tried to account for all the different emotions I was dealing with making the record, everything from overwhelming joy and happiness to deep fear and anxiety. So when you combine the internal and the external–what’s happening both within and without–you get the full picture.