reviews / 2014

ALDOUS HARDING - Aldous Harding

Name: ALDOUS HARDING – Aldous Harding
Item: Aldous Harding
Rating: 6.5
Author: Lorenzo Righetto

2014 (Lyttelton)

chamber folk, folk, gothic folk

by Lorenzo Righetto

6.5

Not only Tiny Ruins in this year of New Zealand female songwriting, but also newcomer Aldous Harding (real name Hannah) with her strongly distinctive voice (as frail as Newsom's, but not as grating, with warmer timbral shadings that make it decidedly more classic and intense).

And indeed "Aldous Harding" sounds like a forgotten classic, its Faulkner-esque stories unfolding between faintly epic choral textures ("Stop Your Tears") and sparkling string flourishes (the single "Hunter").

A debut perhaps still too tied to the names of Nadler and Bunyan to fully reveal Harding's true songwriting identity, though otherwise entirely assured in its excellent execution, a convincing narrative trance ("Titus Groan", one of the most modern tracks with its dramatic arrangement), set alight by sighs and deliberate diction.

Hannah's current limitation can perhaps be traced to a guitar technique still in need of refinement, as she moves with strong instincts for writing and interpretation along a folk canvas tinged with gothic shades that's not exactly unspoiled.

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24/07/2014

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Lorenzo Righetto, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition