Aldous Harding isn’t Looking Back
The title of Party, the forthcoming LP from New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding might confuse those who are unfamiliar with her gothic folk rock. “There’s a lot of love, a lot of desperation, not necessarily in a bad way,” Harding says.
Since releasing her eponymous debut album in 2014, Harding has amassed a loyal following of fans and has toured with the likes of American rock outfit Deerhunter. Though her debut album was released in the US only late last year, she is already drawing comparisons to larger-than-life musicians such as Kate Bush and Scott Walker.
Her sound – dark and brooding, with vocals soaring over sparse and plodding instrumentals – contains a distinct element of fear, which she has previously said stems from a near nervous breakdown she experienced several years ago.
Party was produced in Bristol, England by John Parish, who is perhaps best known for his work with PJ Harvey. The new album, Harding says, is a culmination of her experiences over the past three years – finding fame, touring, the demands of life – although she is quick to note that she is not stuck on the past.
“I think I’m just trying to appreciate the present and not fuck around with how things used to be, because that’s what’s happening for me now,” she says. “So, all I can do is move on. All I want to do is write good music and make music that I like and play it with sincerity – not too much sincerity, you know, because you’ve got to save some stuff for yourself… I’m just doing what I do each day and hoping that I make something half decent.”
Harding, whose real first name is Hannah Harding, grew up in the small port town of Lyttelton, New Zealand. The daughter of musicians, she was discovered as a street busker by Anika Moa, a well-known artist from New Zealand.
Since her breakout moment, she has toured extensively and, more recently, moved to Melbourne with her partner, bluegrass musician Marlon Williams. Though life has been a whirlwind since things took off for Harding some three years ago, she says that she tends to focus on what is important to her: namely, making music.
For Harding, whose music seems to come from a place incredibly vulnerable and intimate, crafting songs is something of an automatic process, a natural outlet for whatever may be in her head. Harding says – in her slow, methodical way of speaking, as if she is no rush to push out a half-baked answer to our questions – that she avoids overanalysing the past and instead focuses on her music now and her plans.
“I never really feel like I’ve had to chase this shit around,” she says. “I just kind of I just do it now. There are a lot of things that got me to this point that I couldn’t tell you when it was or when exactly it happened, and how. I don’t like to think about it too much, like the idea is not to give an old part of you credit. That just feels like a kind of psychological assessment. I just know what I make now and how I feel now, and that’s all I really care about, you know?”
Unlike other artists who may be religious about their creative process, only able to write songs if they are in a specific location or a certain mindset, Harding says she is more spontaneous with her work.
“It doesn’t matter. It can be anywhere,” she explains.” Obviously, I don’t want to sit down with a guitar and try to write an incredible guitar line at a party, or anything like that. But other than that, I can pretty much write anywhere.”
There is a particularly gripping aesthetic that fits with Harding’s music. Her latest single off Party, Imagining My Man has been visualised through an intimate music video that focuses on Harding as she gazes upon Auckland from the backseat of a car. There is a somewhat childlike sense of joy present in the clip, with Harding taking bites of a snack and laughing to herself as she stares out the window, somewhat detached.
“It has a fluidity that works nicely,” Harding says of the video.” I couldn’t think of anything that would work better. I want people to feel calm, I was just trying to look friendly. It was also lovely being driven around Auckland City, I hadn’t done that in a while.”
In May, Harding will set off on a tour that will see her visit Europe, North America and her home of New Zealand – the latter containing three sold-out shows in Auckland. It’s a milestone that would certainly add pressure to most artists. But even though Harding’s music is ruminative in nature, she doesn’t seem to be dwelling too much on Party’s immediate reception, telling us that she has even begun speculative work on her next full length.
“I’m not nervous, because it’s made now,” she says. It’s not up to me now. I had my shot, and I took it, and that’s what I made.
“And, if it goes terribly, I’ll be obviously disappointed that people don’t understand what I felt I was doing. But I’m not going to get on the balcony or anything, I’m just going write the next one and do exactly the same thing, which is whatever I like.”
Party is set for release on Friday 19 May 2017.
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