Neon Indian is a pioneer in that infectious, poorly named genre called Chillwave that swept the indie world in synchrony with the likes of Washed Out and Toro Y Moi. Although retro is as popular as ever, it is remarkable how such a mushy, drowned out, synth heavy sound ever made it out alive. Its nostalgia inducing tone evokes emotions that are as vague and as blurry as the dreamy music videos. Allow yourself to get lost in that pensive, slightly melancholy sound: It’s self-indulgent music for self-indulgent people. I think due to the prolific rise, we all expected an imminent and not very dramtic fizzling out. However, haters think again. This summer Washed Out released his first LP and both Toro Y Moi and Memory Tapes released their second, so it seems against the odds Chillwave is still making, err, waves.
Whereas all three of the aforementioned have kept it terminally chill, Neon Indian has gone for a tighter sound on his new album Era Extraña. Yes, you still have massive synths, layer upon layer with strange space noises to accompany, but it seems more intricate and accomplished than Psychic Chasms. The song Polish Girl is far more danceable than anything on the previous album and is quite poppy. There are of course the down-tempo numbers, namely the title track, where all the various synths blend into something that has a lot of atmosphere with the power to entrance. I think that this latest release shows that Chillwave has credibility and should continue to be pursued. Although the change is subtle, it may be a step towards the evolvement of Chillwave into the next sub genre. I think they called it blue wave or something stupid. The album is available to buy now.
