Train On The Island. Aldous Harding

Listening to Train On The Island I get the idea that Aldous Harding is slowly but surely retreating from music. As if she makes herself smaller by the album, vocally and musically. The only other band I know who pulled that off successfully for a few years, was The Walkabouts. That did not turn out well for the band in the end, as it got lost in silence and when it tried to find its way back, there was no audience left to sustain it. Don't worry, Aldous Harding is not there yet.

Enter Train On The Island, the fifth album by New Zealand's singer-songwriter Aldous Harding. I was attracted immediately to the released singles and the album goes down really well with me. But, I can imagine an average listener asking me 'is anything going to happen today?' Yes, it is, but you have to be quiet and pay attention.

(Almost) all is subtlety on Train On The Island. In that Ms. Harding moves closer to the magical environment her countrywoman Reb Fountain creates on her records. The music is slow and so subtle. The rewards are in the little details that are interspersed between the at times elementary chord progressions. The second reward is Aldous Harding's voice that slowly but surely (and softly) mesmerised the listener. All hurry and urgency has left her it seems. The title song is the ultimate example I can give you. This could have been a Reb Fountain song, sure. But the little rewards are in the wizardry that moves in and out of the song, as if she asked Gary Lucas to play like he did on a few songs on 'Grace' and in her background vocals.

I could use all the songs as examples as well, because they all have parts that stand out, if you listen closely. Don't and you will only hear a slow moving album that could even become utterly boring. Train On The Island is an ever so soft album, but to make it come alive it should be played louder in the room or with a headset on. This way it opens up and shows its full colours. Just like half way the album opens up more as well for two songs, defying the quieter parts.

My first impression is that Train On The Island is a far more interesting album than Ms. Aldous previous effort, 'Warm Chris' (2023) and can be placed on the same height as 'Designer' (2019). She worked once again with producer John Parish in Wales, just like her previous three albums. Together they have created a sound that can today be called Aldous Harding's sound and it is a sound I have come to like.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Train On The Island here:

https://aldousharding.bandcamp.com/album/train-on-the-island