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First Watch: Jacco Gardner, 'The End Of August'

Somehow this young Dutch musician has managed to capture an aesthetic that happened 20 years before he was born. Jacco Gardner makes music in the spirit of early 1960s baroque pop bands, such as The Left Banke (a group that featured a harpsichord) or late '60s Kinks, and certainly The Zombies from their Odessey and Oracle period. Gardner channels these sounds on a new song and trippy video called "The End Of August."

Despite drawing on influences that are 45 years old, Jacco Gardner's music feels original. For one thing it's somewhat dreamier and more layered than the music from the '60s. "I tried to use dark but colorful autumn images for the verses," says Gardner, who plays everything but drums on "The End Of August," and directed the video. "And [I] used the sun to convey a hopeful, powerful feeling in the chorus." He says the song is about the passing of summer and the way it changed his outlook on the future.

Gardner's live shows are as memorable and transporting as this video. His tour begins this evening, Oct. 2, at the Troubadour in West Hollywood and then San Francisco. I think he'll feel right at home.

Jacco Gardner's latest album (which doesn't include this new single) is Cabinet Of Curiosities.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.