Not so long ago I revisited the 2021 debut EP from prdr, as it’s been a while since I gave it a good listen. I have to say, it aged quite well. I was left wondering if there’s going to be a follow up what with almost four years since. Of course, quite serendipitously, I get wind of the single we’re looking at today along with a new EP coming soon. I’m delighted that my expectations are, at least so far, met in full, so I’ll be very much looking forward to the malice of chance and time when it drops July 22.
My first reaction to “waiting in the light (the dreamer)” as I was going through my first listen was that the production is surprisingly sleek and natural. That becomes much more noteworthy given that it can stand to be compared with some of the best in the whole progressive rock area. It’s not often that you get to hear a modern, polished sound, which retains character and sounds enough like its own thing, to not be drowned out by everything else. Obviously it also makes it so much more of a pleasure to listen to, particularly for people like me who are (incredibly) pretentious about this aspect.
As I moved my attention away from this, I found myself hitting repeat, wondering how does the song end so quickly. It’s easy to get lost riding the sweet and grounded groove its sporting. When it wasn’t that, it was all the lush textures stealing the spotlight, trailing behind the effortless yet driving trajectory of the vocals. It’s nice to see this kind of ambiental/post rock sensibility explored with such clarity and general tonal euphony.
The delightfully nostalgic vibes from how did the desert bloom make themselves heard, alongside their energetic foundation. I can’t tell what it is though, but there’s something gleefully optimistic underneath that wistful substrate and I’m all there for it. Maybe, it would be better defined as some kind of dreamy brightness? I swear though, that’s not me being totally biased the song title. The accompanying music video, makes a highly symbolic series of moves as it attempts to encompass and define what we hear, in order to offer an additional layer for us to hang on to throughout the song. I’m not sure I get it, to be perfectly honest, however, I also can’t find any reason to fault it to any extent either.
This will be enough to slake my thirst until the rest of the malice of chance and time arrives, but until then, feel free to check out prdr on Bandcamp, Facebook, Spotify, and/or YouTube.
