Hypnophobia, the second album from Dutch psych-wizard Jacco Gardner, is a pop-driven psychedelic journey through the thoughts and dreams of a very talented and complex musician. Each song seamlessly melts into the next on this record, creating a very dreamy vibe throughout.
As the title suggests, this album spends a lot of time dealing with sleep, fear of sleep and dreams. Gardner specifically deals with the idea of meeting yourself in this dreamscape on a number of tracks, like on the first cut of the record, "Another You." Opening with haunting chords, it gives way to a very groove-based song, with different sounds coming in and out of the sonic space, some returning and some so short and fleeting you aren't sure if you actually heard them or not.
Some of the best songs on Hypnophobia are purely instrumental, such as arpeggio-laden "Grey Lanes." The instrumental tracks work almost like dream soundtracks, where Gardner trades whimsical lyrics in for dense sonic structure, adding parts and building layers of sound only to break them right back down. Hypnophobia is a beautiful, and sometimes tragic, look into the mind of a talented and tortured artist.
(Polyvinyl)As the title suggests, this album spends a lot of time dealing with sleep, fear of sleep and dreams. Gardner specifically deals with the idea of meeting yourself in this dreamscape on a number of tracks, like on the first cut of the record, "Another You." Opening with haunting chords, it gives way to a very groove-based song, with different sounds coming in and out of the sonic space, some returning and some so short and fleeting you aren't sure if you actually heard them or not.
Some of the best songs on Hypnophobia are purely instrumental, such as arpeggio-laden "Grey Lanes." The instrumental tracks work almost like dream soundtracks, where Gardner trades whimsical lyrics in for dense sonic structure, adding parts and building layers of sound only to break them right back down. Hypnophobia is a beautiful, and sometimes tragic, look into the mind of a talented and tortured artist.