Jacco Gardner - Fading Cosmos EP
New 2-track EP 'Fading Cosmos/Autumn In Lisbon ' by Jacco Gardner
Two new tracks continue Gardner's musical journey of discovery, initiated on Somnium.
Fading Cosmos and Autumn In Lisbon were recorded during the creation of Somnium - his spectacular 43-minute listening trip from 2018 - but were not intended for the album. The songs are now released together, on one EP. Thematically, the album and EP are similar - a challenging musical journey of discovery - but they differ in approach. On the EP, the cinematic, electronic music is slightly colored with more jazz, folk and improvisation. Inspired by these styles, Gardner - together with his girlfriend María Pandiello - ended up on this interesting musical track and explored it further. During the live performance of Somnium, Pandiello usually plays synthesizers.
Fans will likely be able to discern influences from early Vangelis and Saucerful Of Secrets -era Pink Floyd, as well as Bo Hansson and Silver Apples. Gardner says the final result is somewhere between “calculated” music and a “happy accident.” Like Somnium, the tracks were recorded in Lisbon, where he has been living for a few years now. The city inspires him: “Lisbon is a city thousands of years old with a rich history, full of graffitied ruins and empty palaces with broken windows. This, combined with the labyrinthine nature of a city with its many elevations, creates an almost post-apocalyptic, romantic and mystical feel. In short, a dynamic walking experience.”
His work and living environment has a lot of influence on the music. A walk through the Portuguese capital on a stormy autumn day resulted in the track Autumn In Lisbon . His night walks and the musings about the loss of the pure starlight in the sky, due to the abundant light pollution on earth, have managed to reach the music in the majestic track Fading Cosmos .
When he is alone in his studio, everything in him comes to the surface: “When I work alone, I can completely shut myself off from the outside world and allow my own reality to take me to a completely different place.”
Working as a one-man band in the studio, he recorded the EP's tracks on acoustic guitar, synthesizers, bass, drums, percussion and electric piano. Nicola Mauskoviç added a touch of percussion. Simon Heyworth - best known as the masterer of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells - is responsible for the mastering of the EP.