Train on the Island

Train on the Island was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales with longtime collaborator John Parish, continuing a partnership that has spanned Harding's previous three albums over nine years. The album features contributions from several musicians, including pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte, harpist Mali Llywelyn, synthesiser Thomas Poli, and drummer Seb Rochford. Harding is scheduled to tour the album in the UK, US, and Europe during Spring and Summer 2026, before returning to New Zealand for a four-date national tour.^[5]

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Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.0/10[6]
Metacritic	87/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Exclaim!	9/10[9]
The Guardian	[10]
Mojo	[11]
MusicOMH	[12]
Paste	A-[13]
Pitchfork	9.0/10[14]
The Skinny	[15]
Uncut	[16]
Under the Radar	6.5/10[17]

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According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Train on the Island received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 from 14 critic scores.^[7]

Jayson Greene of Pitchfork awarded Train on the Island the accolade Best New Music, describing it as "her career-best album". Greene praised the record for leaving "negative space for our imaginations" through its minimalistic instrumentation, often comprising just "two piano chords, a three-note bassline, two notes on guitar, and a simple drumbeat". He wrote that, as a sum of these elements, the album generates "oceans of implication".^[14]

Writing for Paste, Miranda Wollen highlighted Harding's "signature stripped-back style" and described the album as both "capacious and intimate", calling it a "silly, colorful triumph".^[13] The Guardian journalist Alexis Petridis described the music as "subtle but never bland" and noted that, at its core, it is "rather less complicated than you might expect", producing "straightforward pleasures" at times.^[10]

In a more critical review, Mark Woody of Under the Radar wrote that while the album offers "some interesting scenery", it is overall a "mixed bag" and ranks near the end of Harding's "otherwise impressive catalog", with "a few too many unexciting turnouts". He also commented that "maybe too much time [is] spent with the same collaborators".^[17]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[1]

• Aldous Harding – vocals (all tracks), piano (tracks 1–3, 7), Fender Rhodes (1, 7), acoustic guitar (2, 5–7, 9, 10), electric guitar (5), photo direction
• John Parish – production, mixing (all tracks); percussion (1–3, 5, 7, 8, 10), MS-20 synthesiser (2), drums (3–5, 7, 10), acoustic guitar (4), Wurlitzer piano (5), bass (6); toms, Fender Rhodes, vibraphone (8)
• Joe Jones – recording
• H. Hawkline – guitar, synthesiser (1); bass (2–5, 7, 8, 10), electric guitar (2–4, 7, 10), acoustic guitar (2, 5, 7), piano (4, 6), Hammond organ (4), vocals (5, 10), ARP (6); art direction
• Seb Rochford – drums (2, 6, 8)
• Thomas Poli – Verbos electronics (1, 2, 6, 9)
• Mali Llywelyn – harp (2, 8), piano (6)
• Joe Harvey-Whyte – pedal steel (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Oliver Baldwin – additional recording, mixing
• Jim Bar – additional recording
• Kate Meakin – photography