Critically acclaimed Aotearoa artist Aldous Harding announces her live return to Australia this November, with four exclusive headline shows in Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney and Brisbane, marking her first Australian dates in support of her forthcoming fifth studio album Train On The Island.
One of contemporary music’s most distinctive voices – moving between folk minimalism, art-pop abstraction, and something more elusive and theatrical – Harding is known for her arresting stage presence and disquieting intimacy. Train On The Island is released Friday 8 May via 4AD/Remote Control Records. Fans got their first taste of Harding’s latest longplayer via two new singles: ‘One Stop’, premiered by Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 6Music, and ‘Venus In The Zinnia’, debuted by Lauren Laverne.
An artist whose work defies categorisation, the Australian run follows an extensive 60-show tour across Europe and North America, marking one of Harding’s most ambitious live undertakings to date. Harding last visited Australia back in January, when she performed as special guest to Nick Cave on his recent Wild God tour.
The 10-track Train On The Island was co-produced with longtime collaborator John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) at Rockfield Studios in Wales, the creative base for Harding’s previous albums Party (2017), Designer (2019), and Warm Chris (2022). Across the album’s 10 tracks she is joined by Joe Harvey-Whyte (pedal steel), Mali Llywelyn (harp), Thomas Poli (synth), Sebastian Rochford (drums), and H. Hawkline’s Huw Evans (bass, vocals, acoustic/electric guitar and organ).
Shifting between sparse, introspective folk and art-pop, Aldous Harding is one of contemporary music’s inventive artists. Don’t miss these special shows.