Aldous Harding
New Zealand folk musician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hannah Harding (born 1990 as Hannah Sian Topp), known professionally as Aldous Harding,[1] is an indie folk singer-songwriter from Lyttelton, New Zealand.[2] Harding captivates listeners with her "elastic and shape-shifting voice",[3] her enigmatic lyrics and eccentric performances and video clips.[4] After her "breathtaking self-titled debut"[5] inspired by English folk music[3] that got her recognized, she got a label contract with 4AD, and teamed up with producer John Parish in Wales. With the 2017 release of her "world-storming album"[6] Party, The Guardian called her "one of the most original songwriters around."[2] The "shimmering psychedelic pop"[4] of the following album Designer in 2019 was described as "warm and full of humor",[7] and "simply extraordinary".[8] Two month after the release Metacritic listed Designer as the world's seventh most critically acclaimed album of 2019,[6] by the end of the year on #15, and #8 Most Shared Album of 2019.[9] The single "The Barrel" won her the APRA Silver Scoll Award. In 2022 Warm Chris consolidated the acclaim.[10]
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1990 (age 35–36)
- Vocals
- guitar
- piano
Aldous Harding | |
|---|---|
Harding performing at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney (Australia) in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Hannah Sian Topp 1990 (age 35–36) Lyttelton, New Zealand |
| Genres | Indie folk |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments |
|
| Labels |
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| Website | aldousharding |
Childhood
Born in 1990, Harding began life as Hannah Sian Topp. Harding is her stepfather's surname.[2] Her parents, now divorced, are both musicians. Her mother, Canadian folk singer Lorina Harding, bought her a guitar when she was seven or eight, "and my stepfather at the time owned a guitar shop and music was everywhere. But I didn't want what they had." She was fearful, "kind of sad" and "certainly troubled", she said,[11] and thought about becoming a vet.[12] But singing was natural to her.[5] She made her recording debut at 13 singing with her mother, "Exactly What to Say", a song they wrote together about the mother/daughter relationship.[13][14] At Logan Park High School in Dunedin[15] she started singing together with her friend Nadia Reid and attended music class. She was 15 when she wrote her first song and "realised I quite like to write songs".[5] After high school, she travelled through Europe, the UK, and Canada "in a boozy haze".[3]
Beginnings in Lyttelton
The family had "moved a lot", lived in Auckland, Dunedin and had an organic farm near Geraldine, a pastoral town with a population just shy of 3,000[16] But decisive for her musical career was Lyttelton near Christchurch. From the port town of Lyttelton and its small, but vibrant musical scene various acts broke to international acclaim, such as Marlon Williams, Nadia Reid, and Tiny Ruins.[17]
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She has released music through independent record labels Flying Nun, Spunk, and 4AD. She has collaborated with Marlon Williams,[18] John Parish,[19] Mike Hadreas (better known by his stage name Perfume Genius),[13] and Fenne Lily.[20] She is known to frequently collaborate with music video director Martin Sagadin.
4AD announced Harding as a new signing in early 2017 just prior to the release of her second studio album, Party.[21] Party was nominated for IMPALA's European Album of the Year Award.[22] The song "The Barrel", from her third studio album Designer, won the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll award.[23][24] 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.
Discography
All albums released as LP, CD and digital files.
Studio albums
| Title | Release date | Label | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [25] |
AUS [26] |
FRA [27] | |||
| Aldous Harding | 2014, April 09[28][29] 2016, September 30[30] |
Lyttelton (LR-006, URA462) NZ[31] Flying Nun (FN566) NZ/US |
35 | — | — |
| Party | 2017, May 19[32][33][34] | Flying Nun (FN575) 4AD (4AD0008) worldwide[35] |
6 | — | 149 |
| Designer | 2019, April 26[4][36] | 4AD (4AD0102), Flying Nun (FN587) | 5 | 53 | 101 |
| Warm Chris | 2022, March 25 | 4AD (4AD0391), Flying Nun (FN605) | 1[37] | 31[38] | — |
| Train on the Island | 2026, May 8 | 4AD | — | — | — |
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