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Designer

It would have been in 2015, between the release of her debut album and her first visit to the UK, that I first heard of Aldous Harding. I was intrigued from the outset, but not quite enough to make any purchases. Nor did what I heard of her second album Party persuade me to reach for my wallet. It was only when I saw the video for 'The Barrel', the first one made to promote her third album Designer in 2019, that things clicked into place, and I ordered it on CD. I'd already heard 'The Barrel' on the radio a couple of times, but I had failed to appreciate it before seeing it visualised.

It's a soft and slow record that gets even quieter and slower toward the end. Recorded not so far from here up at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth, Harding was joined by some Welsh musicians like H. Hawkline, Gwion Llewelyn and Stephen "Sweet Baboo" Black. Producer John Parish also contributed a variety of instrumental parts and backing vocals. The closing two tracks, on the other hand, are solo ones, with Harding accompanying herself on guitar on 'Heaven is Empty' and piano on 'Pilot'.

One of the most striking aspects of the album is Harding's way of changing her voice from song to song, as if assuming a different persona for each one. Her lyrics are usually oblique and often opaque, yet there is always a feeling that something is being communicated, and it's not obscurity for its own sake. It's not a record where it seems worthwhile picking specific favourite tracks, as the whole thing is a great pleasure from start to finish.

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