End Of August / Notus

Recorded at his own Shadow Shoppe Studios in Zwaag, Netherlands, Gardner has again employed the drum skills of Jos van Tool, but plays all other instruments himself. "The End Of August" begins with a gentle, lilting guitar strum and bubbling mellotron, before kicking into a subtle, driving chorus that perfectly captures the ennui one feels as summer ends and fall begins. "Notus" resides on the flip side — a loping, lysergic instrumental that pitches a tent in between the works of Perrey-Kingsley and Stereolab, while flirting with a slightly progressive song structure, moving beyond the Syd Barret-influenced baroque-pop of earlier works.