On her excellent new album, Train On The Island, New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding presents some of her most evocative and affecting songs to date, and as a cohesive whole the album is up there with Harding's best.
Train On The Island follows 2022’s brilliant Warm Chris, and like its predecessor it finds Harding incorporating a rich ensemble of musicians and eclectic instrumentation that gives her wonderfully esoteric, often miniature indie-folk symphonies greater scope and an organic sense of warmth. Recorded with long-time collaborator John Parish, Train On The Island frequently recalls the classic 60s and 70s Laurel Canyon folk scene, with Harding’s songs infused with surreal moments of gentle, hazy psychedelia.
Throughout Train On The Island, Harding remains true to form, and is lyrically cryptic and elusive. While it is often difficult to fully grasp what the songs are specifically about, there’s a concise, imagistic approach at play, and the mysteries, puzzles, and riddles she offers prove to be among her greatest strengths as a writer. Who truly wants the straight story when narratives that weave above, below, and around the truth can feel so much more vibrant, and indeed, vivid? The carefully measured brevity of the arrangements which are often built around piano, guitar, bass, and drums, yet enhanced by deft additions of harp, synth, and pedal steel, alongside the precision of the performances, gives the record a palpable sense of existential solitude. The album conjures the image of an isolated, curious mind attempting to fathom both the minute and the immense, the banal and the magical, mysteries of existence.
With all this in mind, one could assume Train On The Island to be a gloomy, obtuse proposition. Fortunately, it’s anything but. Quite the contrary, in fact, songs including the outstanding title track, the equally superb One Stop, the breezy duet with H. Hawkline, What Am I Gonna Do?, and closing track Coats rank among the most summery work of Harding’s career to date. Each individual piece that constitutes Train On The Island is rich with instrumental detail and unpredictable compositional shifts, each an odd little vignette in its own right. Threaded together with such delicacy, they form an elaborate, enchanting patchwork in which Harding remains as enigmatic as ever.
Train On The Island is out now on Indies Exclusive Blue Vinyl, Black Vinyl & CD
Recommended for fans of Cate Le Bon, Jessica Pratt, Aoife Nessa Frances, Laura Marling, Marlon Williams.
