The Artist: Aldous Harding
Aldous Harding doesn’t explain. She performs. In strange shapes, long stares, unexpected voices. Born Hannah Harding in New Zealand, she grew up around folk music but veered somewhere more theatrical - less Joan Baez, more Twin Peaks cabaret.
Her early records were raw and gothic. But Designer, her third album, was something else entirely - light-footed, surreal and haunting in its restraint. It marked her second collaboration with producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse), who helped her create songs that sound both antique and alien.
There are shades of Kate Bush, Nico, even Bowie - but Harding’s world is entirely her own. Cryptic lyrics. Shape-shifting vocals. The sense that everything is serious and a little bit silly, all at once.
The Record: Designer (2019)
Designer is not in a rush to be understood.
From the opening notes of Fixture Picture, you’re invited - not pushed - into her world. Classical guitar, oblique lyrics, a melody that circles rather than moves forward. Harding sings like she’s telling a secret she might take back.
The album glides. Zoo Eyes is hypnotic and oddly tender. Treasure feels like a Victorian lullaby heard through modern headphones.
There’s rhythm, but it’s off-kilter. There’s beauty, but it’s elliptical. The Barrel is the catchiest song here, and also the strangest - a clapping, skipping, cryptic riddle with a surreal music video to match. Lines like 'show the ferret to the egg' don’t invite explanation.
Every choice on Designer is intentional. Every silence. Every odd phrase. Every falsetto flicker. The result is an album that doesn’t just reward repeat listens - it demands them.
It’s not trying to be universal.
But somehow, it is.
Play Now:
🔊 Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Start With:
- The Barrel - Catchy, cryptic, impossible to forget
- Treasure - Quietly enchanting, strangely intimate
- Designer - Hypnotic folk with a surreal wink
