Mister Mellow Review
An Album by Washed Out
Washed Out, other known as Ernest Greene, is a singer, songwriter, and producer that is known for his chill, electronic music and his mesmerizing voice. Washed Out has been identified with the chillwave music movement, and he is influenced by Hip Hop for his writing. I have only listened to about two of Washed Out’s projects, Feel It All Around and Within and Without. What I got from his past work is that he makes very relaxing music that has pop and hip hop infused electronic instrumentals. I wasn’t too impressed with either of these projects even though I like them. But, I was very impressed with Mister Mellow.
Mister Mellow is COMPLETELY different from Greene’s other albums. It’s experimental, hypnotic, packed to the brim with great samples and his lyrics and vocals are conceptual and sound like nothing I’ve heard before. Washed Out spent two years on Mister Mellow, and you can definitely tell that they took their time with their work.
This album is not just a music album though, it’s also a visual album. So, before I talk about the music, I’d like to talk about the Visuals for this project.
The videos for this album are all pretty amazing. They’re thought provoking, mesmerizing, trippy, creative, and the visuals go with the songs perfectly.
I’m still amazed by the video for Burn Out Blues, how did they make that video??? It looks so cool and it’s very strange, but well done.
I love the video for Time Off. It’s very short and sweet, but it has very nice visuals that complement the interlude very well, and I like how they displayed what the guy was saying in the video.
Floating By has amazing animation that is also quite unique in style. The colors and flow of the video is great and goes with the song nicely.
I’ve Been Daydreaming My Entire Life has to be my favorite video in the visual album. It’s super nostalgic, and it sort of gives you a glimpse into the childhood and upbringing of Ernest Greene. The video also seems to explain the song well, but then again the song isn’t that hard to understand in the first place.
Hard To Say Goodbye has AMAZING editing and animation. I love the fusion of animation and reality in this video, it’s very creative and grabs your attention.
Down and Out has pretty simple animation, but it’s still hypnotizing and gives you a cool visual for the interlude.
Instant Calm has even simpler animation, which is a mixture of paper cutouts and pencil drawings. It doesn’t need to be too much though since it’s an instrumental in the album.
Zonked is my second favorite visual, due to just how crazy it looks and how colorful and lively it is, too. It’s supposed to be hypnotizing, but it’s hard for it to be hypnotic due to how crazy it is. The visual displays money, pills, drugs, cars, and clocks going in spirals, and it looks very cool.
Get Lost is completely made by paper cutouts of real life people, and it looks super weird and funny, but I think that was the point of it. You follow a stream of different people going through what seems to be the city of Miami, and it’s a strange, but good video.
Easy Does It is the most relaxing video of all, and it gives great advice in the song. The advice it gives is basically just to take it easy, not to stress or worry, and so on. But it’s a very simple video that displays a cartoon speaking in the clouds, but it fits the song and it’s concept.
Million Miles Away is the final visual for this project, and it’s the credits. It’s still a good video where you walk with Washed Out around a city, and I think it was a nice way to finish off the visual album.
Now I want to talk about the musical aspects of this album.
Washed Out’s singing on this album is his usual style. He doesn’t exactly switch up or change his vocal style, but his lyrics and the concept are a lot different from his past work. He sounds even more relaxed and soothing on this album, which could also be due to the production. I love the sound of his voice though, and I don’t get tired of it at all.
The production on this album is phenomenal. There are amazing samples, drums, use of background vocals, and numerous instruments.
Burn Out Blues has very nice piano infused into it, and the explosion of sound comes together very nicely.
Floating By has great effects in it, and the beat is easy to like.
I’ve Been Dreaming My Entire Life has a nice harp at the beginning that is followed by a slow beat that has some violin, some effects, and toppers in it. It’s a very peaceful and serene.
Hard To Say Goodbye has a dance type of beat that has piano chords playing along to it, and then when the vocals come in there are some effects looped in the background.
Instant Calm has my favorite beat in this album, it sounds like it’s produced by Madlib, but it might not be. It has really nice samples and some very nice drums.
Get Lost has a constant chord playing to a soft beat that has some spacey effects added onto it. It’s very catchy and hypnotic to listen to, especially due to the slow vocals by Greene.
Million Miles away has SUPER relaxing and eased back vocals that are complemented by a slow beat and a sample that is very dreamy. This is definitely a highlight on the album, and it’s an efficiently produced and put together track that’s a great ending to this project.
Another part of this album is great is that the transitions from each song to the next are very smooth and unnoticeable, unless you actually look and see the song change on your device.
The only really negative thing I have to say about this album is that it’s a little short, cutting right under 30 minutes. I really like the styles used on this project and it’s addicting to listen to. I hope Washed Out makes more solid records like this in the future, because this is some really amazing music.
I also thought that Greene could have switched up his vocals, or at least experimented with his vocal styles a little bit. I didn’t get tired of his voice or anything, but it would be interesting to see what else he could do with his singing.
Mister Mellow is a great album, full of strange and fruity instrumentals that are both exciting, due to creativeness, and relaxing. I’m glad Washed Out has experimented with his production and made some really cool and unique visuals for his music. I really enjoyed both the music and the visuals.
Visuals Grade: 9.5/10
Album Grade: 9/10