The Dawdler – Lava Lamps

Last year I had a very clear winner for my album of the year. It was Keith in Ballachulish by The Dawdler. It remains a firm favourite of mine to this day getting regular spins on the turntable. The Dawdler is songwriter John Edgar from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. You may be familiar with his name from bands such as Okay Champ, EAT FAST and Nately’s Whore Kid Sister. In these bands Johns music is slightly more on the heavy experimental side. His music as the Dawdler is something more fragile, meandering and unique.

John returns with a new single ‘Lava Lamps’. It is a beautiful track full of the gentle and intensely emotional melodies that his previous work has been lauded for. The song, however, couches a darker, sadder story. In 2015, Johns friend, Ewan, took his own life. Not so long ago he wrote this song about him. More broadly, it’s about grief, loss and mental health issues.

Suicide and mental health are huge, devastating issues. Services that work to help those in need and raise awareness in society need support. I’m sure most people reading this will have been affected by mental health issues and/or suicide in some way.

John wants to use the song to try to raise as much money as possible for the mental health charities/services Mind and Breathing Space.

So, if you fancy helping out, you can buy this stunning song on Bandcamp from August 21^st, pre-order the song now for your favourite streaming service or you can buy a limited-edition Dawdler t-shirt from the great folk at Lucky Cat. You can even make your own private donation.

While we await the release of this amazing track here’s ‘Sylvie’ from his debut album which has the most apt lyric “Give the demons hell, bloody tooth and nail”.