Album Review: Aldous Harding Sings For Sadness In Debut Album
Aldous Harding is haunting, tragic, and lonely. This may not seem like the three words anyone would use to promote an artist or say that their debut album S/T might be the most visually stunning record I have heard in awhile. Yet, that is exactly how I would describe of her self-titled record. Stunning and sadness are not words that are commonly placed together, nor do I wish them to be. Yet, in a rare combination S/T is a gem of sadness that I could hear a thousand times in one day.
Harding feels like she belonged in the 60’s era of folk, where songstresses Vashti Bunyan and Joni Mitchell wrote disarming tales of wasted youth and self-destruction. Aldous Harding is an album all about the shadows life can cast through death, insecurity, and an overall lostness in one’s being. Through string arrangements that are so vivid you will wonder if is was nature itself that wrote them. In songs like “Stop Your Tears” and “No Peace At All”, you will think that it was the wind and moonlight that got together to write Harding’s guitar melodies. The ease and peace her chords strike come from their simplicity, and are a musical must to elaborate the fragility of her spirt. After all, Harding has dedicated her sound and art to observing the downsides of feeling human. It is as if Harding has put into words and strings every moment she felt shattered by life, and decided that her tears could be transformed into art.
Art is spiritual expression, and the idea that one’s hurt can be transformed into a gorgeous painting, sculpture, or, in Harding’s case, a record, should move everyone. Though Aldous Harding is aimed for the sadness and woe of life, hearing Harding’s soft, angelic vocals will make you see that life should be temporary. Although life is gorgeous, in itself, what makes its sweetness so potent/ powerful is that it is fleeting. Happiness is like a firefly caught in a jar. Its light is magnificent and glowing but soon fades unless it is released. Like in all emotions and memories, humanity must undergo a constant state of release to both the good and bad that enters its life to leave it, as well. Harding writes for the cycle of spiritual release that is integral to humanity, but leaves us personally longing for stability and permanent joy. Hence, with a gracefully, raw voice and a bond with her guitar that will bewilder listeners to believe that such an inanimate object must have some form of life in it, Aldous Harding feels celestially delivered to tell all its okay to be sad.
Saying goodbye, feeling unreasonable shame, or just wondering when life’s excitement left and only boredom became a choice, these are the moments of darkness we all suffer. Yet, with a voice that is the most extravagant blend of stark and silky, Aldous Harding shows listeners how pain is a remembrance to love. You only feel depression when it your love that has been disappointed, which why S/T is a pillar of wisdom showing listeners that to mourn love is never wrong. In fact, it is natural. For More Information On Aldous Harding And To Buy Her Self-Titled Debut Click Here.
