Summertime gladness or summertime sadness? This season is indeed a weird one with the Corona pandemic still affecting our everyday life in a weird and unusual way but it also offers an opportunity to shed a new light on many aspects of our lives and contemplate about past, present and future. And dreamy vibes like the lush pop gems of Washed Out are a fitting soundtrack to do that, don’t you agree? Over the past decade songwriter Ernest Greene has given us wonderful sun-drenched vibes to cope with the heat and his freshly released new studio album Purple Noon is a perfect example and testament of his musical strengths. Please give it a spin if you haven’t done it already.

Today, NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION is truly excited to present an exclusive mixtape Mr. Greene compiled for us to cope with the hot social distancing summer of 2020 and it became a wonderful relaxing hour of laidback vibes, mixing dreamy pop, smooth bossa nova and gentle grooves into a refreshing musical cocktail that will definitely let your mind flow. On top of it we also took the chance to ask Mr. Washed Out a few questions about his selection.

Hey Ernest, what a lovely mixtape we got here. What was your musical goal when it comes to compiling this mixtape for us?
I wanted to keep the tempo fairly slow – like something that would work for an afternoon at the pool by yourself on a hot summer day.

If you close your eyes and listen to these songs, what do you see in front of your inner eye?
As just mentioned above, I was thinking about being at a pool or maybe the beach. There is a slight bossa-nova vibe throughout that I feel like really works well in this setting.

Any special gems we should watch out for in this guestmix?
The Yse Saint Lau’rant song Optimistic Voyeur is great. It is a disco re-edit of a Gilberto Gil song called Maracatu Atomico. It could work by yourself with headphones or even at a club environment.

How would you compare this to your new album? What would a relationsship of these two musical worlds would look like?
Purple Noon doesn’t have anything with this specific bossa touch – however, I did want to use sounds that slightly alluded to a more tropical feel. There are things like steel drums or reggae rhythms that have those associations for me; however, I wanted to keep it pretty subtle.

What’s your favourite spot to be during the summer time? And are you able to visit it during the pandemic year?
I’ve grown up going to this small island in Georgia called St. Simons Island every summer for as long as I can remember. I actually just visited last week – as I was in much need of a vacation after the album release. Things are fairly strict still involving the pandemic – but the area of the island where I was was really secluded.

It’s a weird summer anyway and we all had different things planned for it. How are you coping with the current situation?
Summer is without a doubt my favorite season – as I love being outside. So things have been definitely disappointing. I feel like my life has sort of been frozen in time for the last 6 months. However, I’m hopeful that Washed Out fans might be more willing to use Purple Noon as some sort of escapist fantasy – as that’s what I’ve been doing with some of my favorite music.

For those who haven’t listened to the fabulous Purple Noon yet – how would you convince them?
I was inspired by the Mediterranean coastline – so I tried to make the album look and feel like that area of the world. For me, a place like the Greek isles are very glamorous and exotic – so perhaps listeners could live vicariously through the record.

You heard the man – give the album a spin and don’t forget to do the same with the following mixtape.

Tracklist – Washed Out Summer Mix For NBHAP

01. Washed Out – Floating By
02. Buscabulla – NTE
03. Hope Tala – Lovestained
04. Bella Boo – boyboy
05. maye – Tú
06. Sunset Rollercoaster – Villa
07. Devendra Banhart – Love Song (Helado Negro Remix)
08. maye – La Canción
09. Farro & Nick Mata – The Bay
10. Bibio – Old Graffiti
11. Erasmo Carlos – Gente Aberta
12. Todd Terje – Preban Goes To Acapulco
13. Yse Saint Laur’ant – The Optimistic Voyeur
14. Paul Epworth & Matty – Voyager 2
15. Washed Out – Time To Walk Away