Aldous Harding’s transformation to Indie rock heroine is complete
Kiwi singer songwriter Aldous Harding has morphed from Gothic folk chanteuse to an Indie rock heroine, as she showed a packed Sydney audience.
Wentworth Courier
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I first saw her at the Sydney Festival in a Town Hall concert on the back of her successful self-titled 2014 debut album.
Back then she drew on inspiration from reading Mervyn Peake’s Gothic trilogy Gormenghast, referenced Baudelaire and, of course, changed her first name from Hannah to another hero, author of A Brave New World Aldous Huxley.
Now, with three albums under her belt and after a much-publicised breakup with Kiwi alternative folk singer Marlon Williams, Harding has morphed into an Indie rock artist, a cult heroine playing to sell out houses and renowned for her quirky, off-kilter videos.
Her current tour is made up of material from her two latest albums, Party and Designer, produced by John Parish, who was responsible for several of PJ Harvey’s hit records.
Released in 2017 and 2019 respectively, they mark Harding’s transition, aided by her excellent back-up quartet of Welsh musicians - Gwion Llewelyn drums and flugelhorn (sometimes simultaneously); classical harpist Mali Llywelyn on keys; bassist Harry Stevenson and Harding’s partner, guitarist Huw Evans (aka H Hawkline).
The atmosphere at Enmore Theatre was set by the Indie rock support act Hand Habits, aka Meg Duffy, who hails from Amsterdam, New York, with her sweetly articulated songs about troubled relationships and the spaces they leave behind.
COMPELLING
Her gentle voice often belies the anxiety in the lyrics and she plays some haunting electric guitar using tape loops for rhythm guitar and laying a solo over the top. A standout from her set was Jessica from her latest album Placeholder, which is well worth checking out.
Any headliner who stipulates a selection of Talk Talk for the music during the stage setup is going to win my vote. But Harding didn’t need any help in doing that as I find her one of the most compelling performers on the contemporary scene.
Dancing in a style that’s midway between Inspector Gadget and a Pierrot
The hour-long set wasn’t the slickest in the business with her compulsive tuning (“it’s the only time I get to relax in front of a thousand people”) instrument changeovers and long pauses with few words.
Harding confines herself to nylon string acoustic guitar, making the occasional foray to the keyboard, notably for the haunting torch song Damn, or standing up and dancing in a style that’s midway between Inspector Gadget and a Pierrot, for whom she could be mistaken sans make-up with her flowing white pants and simple black top.
But whatever she’s doing her facial expressions – pouts, smiles, frowns and a thousand-yard stare – are mesmerising.
For me standouts from the set were the Designer songs The Barrel, Picture and Zoo Eyes, all of which have a catchy groove and some sparse but well-judged guitar work from Hawkline. Llewellyn and Stevenson make a rock steady rhythm section and concert harpist Llywelyn, even if her considerable musical artistry is rarely called on, contributes some catchy keyboard riffs and background vocals.
Although Harding’s songs are often dark and sometimes obscure, she does have a wry sense of humour. Her comments to the audience, when she makes them, are often cryptic: “I am having trouble accessing the river of sunshine”, she remarked, but didn’t expand on it and leaving us pondering what she meant. Commenting on a review that said she doesn’t fill the “radio space” between songs but lets it develop she quipped, “I’m experimenting”.
When an audience member shouted out “you’re brilliant Aldous” she said “that’s great because I never expected to amount to anything”.
Well, she certainly has and if you don’t get a chance to see her you should at least stream some of her songs and watch those wacky but haunting videos on YouTube.
DETAILS
● CONCERT Aldous Harding
● WHERE Enmore Theatre
● WHEN Wednesday, March 4