Aldous Harding

Summary

Hannah Sian Topp (born 1990), known professionally as Aldous Harding, is a New Zealand indie folk singer-songwriter, based in Lyttelton, New Zealand.[1]

Aldous Harding
Harding performing at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney, Australia in 2015
Harding performing at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney, Australia in 2015
Background information
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Lyttelton, New Zealand
GenresIndie folk
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Labels
Websitealdousharding.com

Career edit

One of the first musicians who came across her was New Zealand folk-pop singer-songwriter Anika Moa. Moa asked Harding to play support for her that night after finding her busking outside the venue she was about to play.[2][3]

She has released music through independent record labels Flying Nun, Spunk, and 4AD. She has collaborated with Marlon Williams,[4] John Parish,[5] Mike Hadreas (better known by his stage name Perfume Genius),[6] and Fenne Lily.[7]

4AD announced Harding as a new signing in early 2017 just prior to the release of her second studio album, Party.[8] Party was nominated for IMPALA's European Album of the Year Award.[9] The song "The Barrel", from her third studio album Designer (Flying Nun, 4AD, 2019), won the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll award.[10][11] In 2022, she released her fourth studio album, Warm Chris. It became her first number one album in her home country, and also featured two of her first charting singles there, with "Tick Tock" peaking at No. 31, and "Ennui" peaking at No. 40 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart.

Personal life edit

Harding comes from a musical family in Lyttelton. Her mother is folk singer Lorina Harding.[2]

As of 2020, she is based in Cardiff, Wales, where she had previously lived with partner and collaborator H. Hawkline.[12][13]

Discography edit

Studio albums edit

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
NZ
[14]
AUS
[15]
FRA
[16]
Aldous Harding 35
Party 6 149
Designer
  • Released: 26 April 2019[21][22]
  • Label: 4AD (FN587CD)
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital
5 53 101
Warm Chris
  • Released: 25 March 2022
  • Label: 4AD (4AD-0391)
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital
1
[23]
31
[24]

Other charted songs edit

List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Hot

[25]
"Ennui" 2022 40 Warm Chris
"Tick Tock" 31

References edit

  1. ^ Rogers, Jude (17 November 2019). "The strange world of Aldous Harding: 'I've always been driven by fear'". The Guardian.
  2. ^ a b "Aldous Harding's Mild Obsession With the Devil Results in Some Truly Sublime Music". Vice. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  3. ^ "The Mixtape: Aldous Harding | Radio New Zealand". Radionz.co.nz. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  4. ^ "The ballad of Marlon Williams – Entertainment – NZ Herald News". The New Zealand Herald. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  5. ^ "/". The Music. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  6. ^ Pareles, Jon (17 May 2017). "Aldous Harding's Songs Won't Be Pinned Down. Nor Will Her Voice". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Fenne Lily On Former Selves, Aldous Harding and Relationships". TIDAL Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  8. ^ "The official website for independent record label 4AD". 4AD. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  9. ^ "22 acts in the running for best European independent album". 6 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Aldous Harding takes top gong at 2019 Silver Scroll Awards". Stuff. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Lorde wins Silver Scroll". Otago Daily Times. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  12. ^ Empire, Kitty (18 May 2019). "Aldous Harding review – conundrums you can dance to". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Murphy, Lauren (10 July 2019). "Aldous Harding: 'I think a bit of mystery is good'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Discography Aldous Harding". charts.nz. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  15. ^ Ryan, Gavin (5 May 2019). "Australian Charts: Pink scores her sixth number one album in Australia". Noise11. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Discographie Aldous Harding". lescharts.com (in French). Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Aldous Harding – Flying Out". Flying Out. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Aldous Harding debut album out now!". Lyttelton Records. 9 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  19. ^ Empire, Kitty (21 May 2017). "Aldous Harding: Party review – New Zealander's hypnotic second album". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Aldous Harding – Party". DIY. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  21. ^ Petridis, Alexis (25 April 2019). "Alexis Petridis's album of the week: Aldous Harding: Designer review – cryptic charm and shimmering pop". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  22. ^ Hermes, Will (25 April 2019). "Review: The Fetching Surrealism of Aldous Harding's 'Designer'". Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  23. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  24. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  25. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.

External links edit

  • aldousharding.com
  • Aldous Harding at AllMusic
  • Aldous Harding discography at Discogs  
  • Aldous Harding at IMDb
  • "Aldous Harding: the New Zealand folk singer who'll put a spell on you | Music". The Guardian. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  • Aldous Harding Subreddit
  • Aldous Harding Flying Nun Records page