Jacco Gardner - Somnium

(This review first appeared in issue #84 of Shindig! magazine.)

It's five full years since the release of Gardner's instantly classic debut LP Cabinet Of Curiosities. Since then he's opted to give the people what they don't yet know they want rather than repeat any psych-pop formula. Somnium is inspired by Johannes Kepler's 1608 novel of the same name, and Gardner's recent relocation to Lisbon. By opting to make a vocal-less instrumental album Gardner takes a big risk but the investment of immersive listening reveals the album's singular meditative qualities.

With soothing layers of analogue synths, gently propulsive bass-lines and an emphasis the listener's inner journey, the music has precedents in the ambient explorations of Tangerine Dream and the library music used on TV programmes for schools and colleges in the 1980s. It may not be the echo of '60s psych-pop many of his listeners were hoping for but does signal Gardner's growing confidence in taking the road less travelled.

Jacco Gardner announces new single & album!

Psych's leading light returns with a new single "Find Yourself". A full album, Hypnophobia, will follow in May.

The Dutch maestro's eagerly anticipated follow up to Cabinet Of Curiosities is set to be one of  2015's top albums. Fans of late '60s psychedelia as well as the post-Temples new breed of neo-psych lovers will have this top of their wants list.

Check out the single via the Soundcloud widget below and click over the jump for full details of forthcoming long player Hypnophobia, due for release on May 4th on Full Time Hobby.




Click over the jump for the full press release.

Jacco Gardner - Cabinet Of Curiosities

Get on your (white) bicycle and ride! Introspective psychedelia at its finest!

Anyone who's ever searched for original psychedelic-era vinyl on Ebay will know that to acquire such artefacts you need a bank loan or a lottery win. There's a good reason for this - a lot of the records were bloody great, and continue to fascinate and garner new generations of fans to this day. A lot cheaper, yet no less psychedelic or impressive, is this debut album from Dutch psych-wonderkid Jacco Gardner.

Gardner's previous two singles, 'Clear The Air' and 'Where Will You Go' (both included here) raised eyebrows and expectations last year, and this hotly anticipated long-player does not disappoint. Gardner plays all the instruments on the album, except drums which are expertly played by Jos van Tol. With baroque arrangements of harpsichord, flutes, analogue keyboards and strings, the effect is authentically reverential to the music of the late '60s, yet somehow feels right for now, like a great lost record who's time has finally come.

Click over the jump for more on Cabinet Of Curiosities.