by Margaret Reges
Ernest Greene had been involved in a number of musical endeavors by the time he started putting together a series of recordings as Washed Out. Leading up to his first Washed Out recordings in the summer of 2009, Greene had worked on a similarly noisy and computerized (albeit far more guitar-heavy and fast-paced) bedroom recording project called Lee Weather. He had also worked on a series of dance music recordings with a local band in Columbia, SC called Bedroom. Washed Out's initial offerings -- drowsy, distorted, dance pop-influenced tracks that brought to mind Neon Indian and Memory Cassette -- would reflect the influence of both of these projects. Mexican Summer digitally released Washed Out's debut EP, Life of Leisure, in mid-2009; the EP was slated for release on vinyl in October of that year. A limited-edition, cassette-only release, the High Times EP, was scheduled for release on Mirror Universe that September.