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Aldous Harding

Schedule

Tuesday 9 July
20:30 - 21:30: La Face Nord

Aldous Harding (NZ)

Folk

“Why, what am I doing in Dubai?” It isn’t enough for the singer to start off a song with the catchiest question of the year; she doesn’t even answer it in all of the 5 minutes and 17 seconds of “Zoo Eyes.”

Aldous Harding is doing her best to blaze a path without hitting any false notes, which is only natural for the daughter of a folk singer. The Antipodes is where this 28-year-old musician catapulted her career from. Her birthplace of New Zealand, with its vast, barren landscapes, is the best place on earth to find inspiration for unembellished and contemplative folk. Her music integrates a voice that impersonates the different facets of Mother Nature: enchanting, sinister, cajoling, mysterious…

Hannah’s first foray into singing was recording with her mother Lorina Harding at the age of 13. After letting her interest in music simmer for a few years, she changed her name to Aldous when the time was right. Armed with a guitar or a piano, she let her beautiful melancholy run free, filling her first record in 2015 with splendid melodies and unusual poetry. Her voice varies from sublimity to distress, sounding like an improbable clash between the naturally subtle tone of Kate Bush and the rough musical universe of Nico. It could also be described as the feminine translation of Will Oldham’s baroque country sound.

In 2019, Aldous Harding collaborated with John Parish, PJ Harvey’s right-hand man, on her third album “Designer.” She is still exploring her dulcet melancholy as she adds more substance and heart to her music. Harding is writing songs that are more accessible without betraying her fundamental nature as she drifts towards Neil Young-esque embellishments and a touch of upbeat esoterism. She wonders about the “Weight of the Planets”, comments on the afterlife in “Heaven is Empty,” and of course, questions her presence in Dubai.

Lausanne, don’t make her question her presence in the city!

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