Mike Lee Thomas directs a stunning film, where tensions in a rural community builds to a terrifying climax, for singer songwriter John Edgar aka The Dawdler.

The video for Skipping Down the Road was created as part of a photography, print, and film exhibition at newly established gallery Arena, to celebrate the music of Newcastle-based musician The Dawdler and raise money for MSTrust.

Shot in the North East of England and the West Coast of Scotland, the video explores the themes that John approached when writing the track, during his diagnosis with MS. It also explores our relationships with the world at present and the idea that regardless of the situations we find ourselves in, there is always beauty to be found.

The black and white palette and filmic textures - this is beautifully shot by DoP Kyle Heslop - lend a cinematic quality to the project, which builds to a nightmarish climax and leaves a lingering sense of dread. 

"When I was writing Skipping Down The Road, I had just read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five," the artist mentions. "Both books contain air raids, and the track explores the moments before a city is destroyed by bombs." 

These references are explored in an abstract, emotive way, and give the video a sense of profound fear right up to the explosive ending.