Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding (aka Hanna Topp) is an indie folk singer-songwriter from New Zealand currently based in Cardiff. Her work typically involves lower tempo songs wrapped in pared down arrangements that incorporate quiet moment as a musical ingredient. Impressionistically, her overall sound is somewhat adjacent to Cate Le Bon's but more on the subdued and romantic side. Her earlier work suggests '70s era folk influences, though often with an unusual tilt somewhere underneath her songs, which pretty much continues to this day. Her songwriting obviously became more textured and mature over the years, and she began to pick the tempo a little, even shaking off some of the depths of her melancholy that lead to a wider range of dynamics. She sings in a calm and smooth, occasionally Nico-esque tones, except Harding projects more warmth than mystique.