Before he even released a full-length album, 28-year-old Georgia native Ernest Greene had become America’s ambassador for zonked-out electro-pop – a.k.a. "chillwave." His gorgeous debut proves why he’s the dude for the job: Within and Without's nine tracks are full of perfect Quaalude grooves: stacks of lush synths and layers of harmonized vocals set to gently thumping beats. Ben Allen, who produced Animal Collective's breakthrough Merriweather Post Pavilion, helps Greene sculpt opener "Eyes Be Closed" into an ecstatic reverie, while bringing in some of the slippery drums that defined 1990s trip-hop ("Within and Without") and even some Erasure-style dance-pop ("Amor Foti"). Greene's best trick: Using those elements of the past while crafting an album that sounds like a beautiful, dreamy future.
Listen to "Eyes Be Closed":
