John Edgar, aka The Dawdler, has been one of our artists to watch all throughout this year. He started off 2019 with a series of very strong singles that were somewhere in between Low and Explosions in the Sky, guitar-based music that managed to remain understated while gesturing towards epic. He released his debut album Keith In Ballachulish back in May, and he’s already getting ready to promote his second album, set for release Easter next year.

The Dawdler’s new single “Dark Clouds” finds him strolling down a different path altogether. The interplay between words and music has never been more central to his music. It represents, in Edgar’s own words, “a battle” between the crippling self-doubt that permeates the lyrics and the jubilant tone the music ends with.

Starting off with a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio that brings to mind the intimate charm of Sufjan Stevens’ late work, “Dark Clouds” is The Dawdler at his most vulnerable. He fears that the dark clouds are all around us, “In the dark, in the day / In the dirt, in the air,” and, for a long time, he cannot seem to find a way out. It’s only as the song adds layers of harmonies and drums, evolving into an almost Bon Iver-esque indie jam, that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s music that he ultimately turns to escape his darkest thoughts. Displaying a quite different side to The Dawdler, “Dark Clouds” is a left-turn to be celebrated.

After a decade spent on the alternative post-punk and noise scenes, Newcastle-upon-Tyne singer-songwriter John Edgar has decided to embrace all his sensitivity with his solo moniker The Dawdler. Following up on the gorgeous singles “Around Eve” and “Sylvie” – both already featured in our HighClouds: Best Tracks of 2019 playlist – the slowcore artist is unveiling “Flickering Out,” a delicate new single taken from his upcoming debut album. About the track, Edgar detailed:

[su_quote]It’s a daydream that ponders on love’s capacity to survive trauma. A nostalgia for the light that has, sadly, ‘flickered out’, and how much that feeling deeply hurts.[/su_quote]

About a month ago, John Edgar premiered on HighClouds his debut single as The Dawdler, a new slowcore-inspired moniker that sees him abandon the brashness of his prior work. Now, he’s putting out “Sylvie”, a new song that again marks a departure from everything he had done before. From the subtle electronic flourishes that come up in the very beginning to the teary-eyed string arrangement that signals the song’s final crescendo, “Sylvie” does away with the minimalist tendencies that The Dawdler showcased in his first single. And as strong as “Around Eve” was, this is a change for the better.

Whereas “Around Eve” prided itself in maintaining the same tranquil mood from start to end, “Sylvie” comes off as an attempt to write a post-rock pop song. Though it’s just under the three-minute mark, it finds more than enough time to go into full-blown epic by its last minute, the drum and guitar work reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky’s most celebratory work. What’s even more impressive is how effortlessly the artist pulls off the left-turn. You can definitely see the song’s triumphant shift coming from miles away, but its smooth arrangements stop it from feeling shoe-horned and stereotypical. Instead, what we are offered is a hair-raising love song, an invitation to come together as a stronger whole: “Put your fears with mine / give the demons hell”, sings Edgar with genuine passion. We have only heard two songs from The Dawdler, but whatever he’s planning to put out this year is shaping up to be one of our most anticipated releases.

If you happen to be into UK underground post-punk and noise, it’s not too unlikely that the name John Edgar rings a bell. Edgar has spent a good chunk of the 2010s making loud and gritty music with a bunch of bands, from the metal-influenced Nately’s Whore’s Kid Sister to his current band Okay Champ. In case there was any doubt that John Edgar was everything but a one-trick pony, he is starting 2019 with another 180º. His new moniker The Dawdler finds him navigating slow-core with a touching proficiency that almost makes you wonder if this isn’t actually his main gig.

A minimalistic three-minute track built around only a beautiful guitar line and Edgar’s high and echo-y vocals, “Around Eve” is an impressive debut single in its own right. By appropriating Explosions In The Sky-like guitars and fusing them with Low’s penchant for simplicity, The Dawdler makes music that is as suitable for sobbing uncontrollably as it is for providing a soundtrack to wildlife documentaries. The bass notes of Edgar’s guitar arpeggios possess an immediately healing and relaxing effect that is magnified by his long wailings. It’s the song’s simplicity that lets it shine in all its understated beauty – if it’s only a guy and his guitar, it’s because everything else would be an intrusion. The Dawdler‘s “Around Eve” is meant to be the opening track to an album for which there aren’t details yet. Stay tuned, catch The Dawdler live in Newcastle Upon Tyne this spring and listen to his debut below.