Aldous Harding – One Stop
Aldous Harding is back. Four years on from Warm Chris, the New Zealand songwriter announces her fifth album, Train on the Island, due May 8 on 4AD. “One Stop” is the lead single, premiered by Huw Stephens on BBC 6Music, and it arrives with a video directed by Michelle Henning. The album was co-produced with long-time collaborator John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales — the same room where they made Party (2017), Designer (2019) and Warm Chris (2022). Joining them this time: pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte, harpist Mali Llywelyn, synth artist Thomas Poli, drummer Sebastian Rochford (Polar Bear), and Huw Evans (H. Hawkline) on bass, vocals, acoustic/electric guitar and organ.
“One Stop” opens on queasy piano and a time signature that keeps slipping, Harding’s voice moving between accents and characters as it goes. She sings about meeting John Cale — “He didn’t have any words but I don’t mind” — with the kind of matter-of-fact delivery that somehow makes the surrealism land harder than if she’d played it for effect. What I find impressive is how much structural work her voice is doing: the song doesn’t so much build as rotate, and she holds it together through sheer commitment to the bit. It may be the funniest she’s sounded. It’s also unmistakably her.
Since Warm Chris she’s been audible on Perfume Genius’s Grammy-nominated Glory and a Sleaford Mods collaboration, but this is her first solo statement in four years, and “One Stop” makes a strong case that the wait was worth it. London Barbican shows (May 29–31) are sold out, with Vera Ellen supporting across UK and European dates. The world tour runs through to October.
Tracklist:
- I Ate The Most
- One Stop
- Train On The Island
- Worms
- Venus In The Zinnia
- If Lady Does It
- San Francisco
- What Am I Gonna Do?
- Riding That Symbol
- Coats
Tour Dates:
Europe:
- May 25 – Brighton, UK @ The Dome *
- May 26 – Southampton, UK @ 1865 *
- May 27 – Cambridge, UK @ Junction 1 *
- May 29 – London, UK @ Barbican * SOLD OUT
- May 30 – London, UK @ Barbican * SOLD OUT
- May 31 – London, UK @ Barbican * NEW
- Jun 02 – Bristol, UK @ Beacon *
- Jun 03 – Glasgow, UK @ Kelvingrove Bandstand *
- Jun 05 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street *
- Jun 07 – Leeds, UK @ Irish Centre *
- Jun 08 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall *
- Jun 09 – Birmingham, UK @ Town Hall *
- Jun 11 – Rouen, France @ Festival Rush *
- Jun 12 – Paris, France @ Salle Pleyel *
- Jun 13 – Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Best Kept Secret Festival
- Jun 15 – Oslo, Norway @ Konserthus *
- Jun 16 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Slaktkyrkan *
- Jun 17 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega *
- Jun 19 – Hamburg, Germany @ Große Freiheit 36 *
- Jun 21 – Berlin, Germany @ Huxleys *
- Jun 22 – Prague, Czechia @ Roxy *
- Jun 23 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena *
- Jun 25 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert Main Hall *
- Jun 26 – Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Kino Siska *
- Jun 28 – Milan, Italy @ Magnolia *
- Jun 29 – Bologna, Italy @ Locomotiv Club *
- Jun 30 – Rome, Italy @ Monk *
- Jul 02 – Nîmes, France @ Paloma *
- Jul 04 – Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain @ Vida Festival
- Jul 06 – Munich, Germany @ Muffathalle *
- Jul 09 – Trenčín, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival
- Jul 11 – Bruges, Belgium @ Cactus Festival
- Jul 12 – Cologne, Germany @ Even Flow Festival
- Aug 12 – Paredes de Coura, Portugal @ Paredes de Coura Festival
- Aug 20 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival SOLD OUT
North America:
- Sep 09 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
- Sep 11 – Washington, DC @ The Howard
- Sep 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
- Sep 14 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
- Sep 15 – Montreal, QC @ Le National
- Sep 16 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
- Sep 18 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
- Sep 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
- Sep 21 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
- Sep 22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Commonwealth Room
- Sep 24 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
- Sep 25 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
- Sep 26 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
- Sep 28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Castro Theatre
- Sep 29 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theater NEW
- Sep 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Pacific Electric
- Oct 01 – Los Angeles, CA @ Pacific Electric NEW
* with Vera Ellen
