There's Just One Thing That Aldous Harding Doesn't Question

"I drove my inner child to a show/We talked all the way home..." - these are some of the lyrics that stuck with this scribe after adding Aldous Harding's new Designer album to high rotation. When we ask Harding to provide additional insight into these lyrics from Zoo Eyes, which also features flute and vocal styles that alternate between verses and choruses, she ponders, "It was very much about imagery, the verses in that song are imagery and the choruses are sort of meant to feel as though they — I dunno, they're meant to be a comfort; each chorus is meant to be me telling you something about how the world works. I mean, it's a fantasy... and that line I suppose, yeah! And it's quite a sad line for me, because, well, I dunno, does it make you feel sad? 

"It's not supposed to make anyone feel sad, although it does make me feel a bit sad because... I don't know why, but sometimes when I picture somebody I love as a child, I get quite sad and I don't know whether that's sort of a projection from my own childhood, but, you know, if I think about my partner or I think about my father when they're children, I get quite emotional. And I think I was just imagining that dark, lengthless car ride home to, you don't know what kind of home, but there's this conversation that goes on with yourself. Again, it's difficult; it's sort of like trying to describe — it's kinda like rolling over and telling somebody about a dream," she laughs. 

"And then you try to describe the light and the mood and the sounds, but you're sort of inspired and excited and they're just going, 'God, boring.'"

John Parish, who produced Harding's previous Party album, was also on board for Designer. Harding describes their working relationship as "incredibly focused". "I don't wanna use the word 'tender', because that sounds [wrong], but it was creatively tender in the sense that we trust each other and... I don't know that we ever really allow ourselves to be too excited, because we're very focused, you know, and I've spoken to him about it recently and he says the same thing, he says, 'Well, no, you have a more or less clear idea of what you wanna do and we don't have a lot of time,' and I know it sounds really dull to say it: we spend a lot of time in silence – apart from the making of the music." 

Fans of Harding may already have heard two tracks from Designer during previous live sets: Weight Of The Planets and the harrowing Heaven Is Empty. After admitting she's "focused on the live shows at the minute", Harding says she was unsure about how to present some of this new material in a live setting. "There's a lot more going on and I needed a kind of attention to detail that I wasn't used to using on that scale," she says. "But it happened, it worked out fine, and the live show will be another new experience for me, I think: I'm not used to following. I toured with mostly just one other person for Party so, you know, there's a lot to do once I'm up there." 

She's an intimidating presence on stage, capable of silencing wayward punters with a withering look ("Sometimes I have to remind people with my eyes," she acknowledges), but as an interview subject we find Harding ruminative and open. Often lengthy pauses precede her carefully enunciated words, which are sometimes cut short if a more accurate way of articulating what she wishes to say suddenly springs to mind. 

Harding often plays shows with Laura Jean and recounts the pair's first meeting at Melbourne's Yarra Hotel. "I think it was for the rugby or they were holding a night there: they had various artists covering, I dunno, different rugby songs or some kitsch kinda night like that." Jean performed what was "definitely the song of the night" for Harding and then approached to introduce herself. "She said, 'Hey, I'm Laura and I love your record,' and I remember she was wearing this thick old beanie, of her team," Harding laughs. "And I was, 'Jesus,' you know? 'What's this?' And then after I heard her record I felt, you know, it was probably one of my more shallow moments... I was pretty new to Melbourne and, well, I was probably a bit shy, you know, and after I heard that record I came up to her and I said, 'I really love your record,' and I think she made a joke, but anyway she's a good friend and we keep in touch, [sending] messages back and forth and things like that." 

The new album's lead single, The Barrel, sees Harding starring solo in the song's accompanying music video, sporting a hat that would make Pharrell's Vivienne Westwood headwear collection look sensible by comparison. Towards the end of the clip, Harding puts on a mask. She also utilises a mask to great effect throughout the Stop Your Tears music video. Is there anything behind this recurring mask motif? 

"It's interesting," Harding muses. "Somebody asked me a really wonderful question, I can't remember who it was, but she made a connection between me dancing and wearing a mask... I said, I hadn't even – 'cause I'd forgotten about Stop Your Tears and that clip. Then I said, 'Oh, you know what it is? It's probably [the fact that] I feel like it makes the dance stronger because perhaps there's a repression about a masked being, to me. You know, to me, it's quite a repressive image and perhaps I like the idea of coupling this repression with, in my opinion, one of the ultimate forms of expression'...

"But I think I grew up with a lot of masks around, 'cause my mum was a puppeteer and a mask maker and things like that so, yeah! I dunno, that was interesting. So, yeah, I think that that's what that is."

Having first been drawn to Harding's work through her aforementioned Stop Your Tears single (2014), it was intriguing to discover that she wrote this song about her greatest fear: losing her mind. Does Harding have any idea where this fear stems from? "Well, I think..." Harding exhales, slowly and deliberately. "Let's see: I think there's always been a fear of massive personal loss – you know, be it real or imagined – and what my mind, or what anyone's mind, can kind of do with that. 

"And I think that I will always be questioning my mind and where it's taking me, but music's sort of the only thing that I don't question too much; like, I mean, I question it to death, but ultimately I believe in my instinct.

"It's interesting being a sensitive person – you know, a lot of sensitive people do this [make music] – but the irony is not lost on me that sensitive, vulnerable minds choose to get up and express it. I've wondered whether it's the best thing to be doing but, yeah, we'll see. We'll see."