Though his nom de synth suggests something tired and dull, low-fi keyboard king Ernest Greene, a.k.a. Washed Out, is just getting warmed up.
Within and Without, his first full-length album, has been steadily generating buzz since it dropped back in July, and the attention is well-warranted; his combination of moody, swirling melodies and heart-on-sleeve longing only sound better as the leaves fall off the trees.
EW is happy to premiere the Iceland-shot video for his new single “Amor Fati,” in which Greene pairs minimalist swoon with a good old-fashioned road movie that finds his stand-in (fellow musician Luke Rathborne) rambling along country roads, chasing livestock, taking a bath with a beautiful woman, engaging in some verbal foreplay with a hot dog vendor, and generally re-creating the hallucinatory sense of awe and alienation one gets on an extended foreign vacation.
Check it out below.
To us, the energy of the "Amor Fati" video echoes the Robyn's clip for "Hang With Me," another series of on-the-road vignettes that add up to a stirring combination of freedom and ennui, but goes one step further and often just lets the landscape speak for itself (seriously, we can't get over that one climactic shot of the crater).
What do you think of Washed Out's video for "Amor Fati"? Does it remind you of that Robyn clip? Or does it more closely resemble a super-serene version of that awesome European vacation sequence from The Rules of Attraction? Sound off in the comments!
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Love this song. My favorite on the album.
Best song of the year… I can listen to it over and over again.
I love Washed Out! Great song.
Don’t know about the video, but the song reminds me of Pure Shoes by All Saints.
^oops. Pure SHORES
Looks like it was a fun video to shoot, but the story is completely lost on me. I don’t know if there even was any intent on telling a story just a random montage of some guy’s adventure?
It looks like the Sofia Coppola version of the Europe sequence from The Rules of Attraction, quiet and nostalgic.
Amazing video. It fits the song so beautifully. <3 to Washed Out!
the BEAUTIFULLL man starring starring in this video is Luke Rathborne! had to give him a shout out! LOVE his work
love the video! The scenery is amazing! Well done!
Nice scenery and song.The guy is weird though.
amazing video!! Looks like an unbelievable adventure. I love the guy in the video.. It is a perfect fit
Love the song, and the entire album. Compare this video to Bon Iver’s “Holocene,” also shot in Iceland.
Gorgeous song, gorgeous video. Besides just having a swirly rainbow cloud video, these match up as good as I could imagine. Music like this should be more popular.
Within? Without? Amor Fati? Is this guy a huge X-Files fan? Because those are all names of XF episodes.
Icelandic Hot dogs are the best. Think its ‘cos of the lamb in ‘em
Like the man in this video 2, he’s waaay cuter than Ernie, don’t you think?
great vid, great vibe.