A Dancing Beggar – Follow the Dark As If It Were Light

“Follow the Dark As If It Were Light” is the second full-length for James Simmons under the A Dancing Beggar moniker. Across the seven songs that make up the album Simmons resists the verse chorus structure in favour of what he calls ‘adventures’…

The album seems firmly rooted in the post-rock tradition, a tough genre to get right. But Simmons knows the formula and has enough conviction in his songwriting to keep it fresh and relevant. And as far as evolution of an artist goes, this one could be a contender for revelation of the year as Simmons shows growth in leaps and bounds and delivers an album that lingers with the listener long after the music stops.

From note one of “Follow the Dark…” it’s clear that this is an album of nuance and texture. Often the songs seem to move in layers; A layer may consist of, say, guitar and piano, rather than a single instrument. Each layer seems to build on a particular melody. As a result, it’s as if each melody is a voice adding to a choir.

To talk about the album in terms of individual songs is near pointless as this is an album that will have you listening from beginning to end each time you hit play. And in return what Simmons delivers is a moving album where quality never waivers. Now, in fairness, the album does take a slight detour with “Empty Boats” which doesn’t quite evolve the same way the other songs do. It has the most prominent vocal track on the album and seems unsure whether it wants to be a traditional A-B pop-song or an instrumental post-rock composition. As a result, what we get is something that’s stuck in between the two approaches and thus lacks direction. But even that is not enough to slow the album down.

“Returning” and “Here Come the Wolves” are probably the best contenders for singles from the album as both work as stand-alones but also serve well as microcosms of the album as a whole. Both songs are just note-perfect and seem to know exactly when to evolve. And each evolution, each new layer, seems to add weight to the emotional thrust of the songs.

“Follow the Dark As If It Were Light” wears its influences on its sleeve, particularly Sigur Ros and Epic45. However, Simmons has a firm grasp of what he is trying to achieve with this album and has such a strong sense of melody that he really does offer up something special here. As an artist Simmons has such a deep well of great melodies to draw from; nonetheless, he deserves credit for being brave enough to invest so many into each song. Presumably, the mastering work done by Ludovic Morin (Sigur Ros, Fleet Foxes) can’t be underestimated in its contribution to the evolution of the artist’s sound. None of this is to write-off Simmons previous work as A Dancing Beggar, but simply to acknowledge that the scope of his vision has expanded greatly. Thankfully though, his work feels as deeply personal as ever.

- Review by Brendan Moore for Fluid Radio

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