Photos by Shawn Brackbill

Words by Andrew Parks

Madonna. P.M. Dawn. Seal.

Not exactly the names you’d expect Ernest Greene to drop now that he’s finally finished Washed Out‘s long-awaited debut LP. And yet those reference points ring true as Within and Without‘s singular vision develops like a stack of double-exposed photos.

Don’t worry, though. Greene didn’t lift his loops from “Like a Virgin” or “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss.” He started from scratch instead and simply added certain production techniques—repetitive drum rolls, digital textures that are alien and inviting—to an ever-expanding manifesto of what it means to make a Washed Out record these days.

“I struggled with the direction at first,” admits Greene, “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, but I was eventually able to strip away all of the unnecessary bits and figure out the core of [my music]: very simple, but hopefully emotionally-moving songs.

“It wasn’t until the album was starting to really take shape that I started to notice a few similarities to other things that I wanted to explore more,” he continues, “like a few elements of early ’90s pop music. On the flip side, there are a few songs on the record that are a little slower and more spacious that reminded me of Mazzy Star, so we tried to bring that out a bit—the melancholy/ambivalence that I’ve always loved in music.”

The following interview was conducted over E-mail as Greene rehearsed for his current tour back home in Georgia. It’s been edited for style and clarity.