Birds Aren’t Real

4AD welcomes Aldous Harding, a remarkable talent from New Zealand. Aldous Harding’s music is not for the faint of heart. Disarming in its desolate imagery and stark instrumentation, her songs draw from the core facets of life: death, birth, grief and love. There are few happy endings, but the power is in how Harding enters into battle; with a dancer’s grace and a boxer’s stance. Harding initially ignited interest with her eponymous debut album released just two years ago. With echoes of folk luminary Linda Perhacs, Harding’s work is one step removed from the modern world, lying in the more savage and dramatic terrain where Kate Bush and Scott Walker reside, wrought with a wry wit and tenacious gall. For her 4AD debut, Aldous – real name Hannah – Harding has been working with award-winning producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse).

4AD welcomes Aldous Harding, a remarkable talent from New Zealand. Aldous Harding’s music is not for the faint of heart. Disarming in its desolate imagery and stark instrumentation, her songs draw from the core facets of life: death, birth, grief and love. There are few happy endings, but the power is in how Harding enters into battle; with a dancer’s grace and a boxer’s stance. Harding initially ignited interest with her eponymous debut album released just two years ago. With echoes of folk luminary Linda Perhacs, Harding’s work is one step removed from the modern world, lying in the more savage and dramatic terrain where Kate Bush and Scott Walker reside, wrought with a wry wit and tenacious gall. For her 4AD debut, Aldous – real name Hannah – Harding has been working with award-winning producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse).

Carmen McRae (1922 - 1994) was one of the great jazz vocalists of the 20th century – next to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Born in Harlem, New York, she played the piano at "Minton's Playhouse” in the 1940s, a club where the young beboppers like Dizzy Gillespie and Carmen's husband-to-be Kenny Clarke developed this new music. Next important career steps were an engagement with the Benny Carter band as a pianist and with Count Basie - as a singer. Having spent four years in Chicago from 1948 on, she finally signed an artist contract in her hometown New York and went on to release twelve albums over the next five years.