Washed Out have announced their fifth album, Notes from a Quiet Life, which will be out June 28 via Sub Pop. Ernest Greene, who is Washed Out, produced it by himself for the first time, and it was mixed by Nathan Boddy (James Blake, Mura Masa) and David Wrench (Caribou, Florence + the Machine). The title refers to Greene’s decision to leave Atlanta and return to rural Macon, GA where he grew up.
“I’ve read that every five, maybe 10, years, you’re practically a different person — like literally, on a cellular level,” Greene says, talking about the album. “The things that you’re going through will end up changing you, and you’re kind of a different person. This album is a reflection of that. Experimenting with painting and sculpture helps my music. They influence each other. That was a kind of realization for me. I don’t want to look back on my life one day, and be like, ‘Oh, it was all about maximizing productivity.’ I want to enjoy this.”
The first single from the album is “The Hardest Part,” which comes with a video made by artist Paul Trillo, who used OpenAI’s Sora to help create it. Green says:
The Hardest Part’ is a story about nostalgia and love lost. With the video, I wanted to bring this narrative to life in a sincere way that was also exciting and unexpected. I’ve been a fan of Paul for a long time and he is amazingly skilled at incorporating cutting-edge visual effects that elevate a story instead of simply supplementing it with shock and awe. He was at the top of my list of potential collaborators.
What he’s come up with is nostalgic, sad, uplifting, and often quite strange. However, he still manages to make you feel for the characters and invested in the journey of how their lives progress. I think that Paul is right when he says that this video could only be made using this new AI technology. In my opinion, the hallucinatory quality of Sora clips feel like the beginning of a new genre unto itself – one that is surreal and unpredictable and entirely unique to traditional cinema or even animation.
Watch below.
Notes from a Quiet Life:
1. Waking Up
2. Say Goodbye
3. Got Your Back
4. The Hardest Part
5. A Sign
6. Second Sight
7. Running Away
8. Wait on You
9. Wondrous Life
10. Letting Go