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Record CollectorMay 15, 2026Another deceptively sparse collection, the sonic progression has been developed still further, several songs enhanced by hushed, brooding electronica. But the words surprise and dazzle like never before. [Jun 2026, p.102]
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May 15, 2026This glorious weirdness was present in Harding’s earlier work but feels like the main event on Train on the Island. It never intrudes on what can be enjoyed as fantastically crafted songs, but accentuates the beguiling personality that makes them more than that.
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May 14, 2026It’s another strange and alluring outing. On the surface it may be Harding’s most accessible record to date, warm and approachable, with plenty of major-key tunefulness and a welcoming glow. However, it’s still liable to wrongfoot the unwary listener with its bizarre yet artful twists and turns.
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May 12, 2026Nobody is making music quite like Harding, she is a special, singular artist. Just be sure to take the same approach to interpreting her lyrics as you would to any great work of surrealism; the joy is in the wondering, not the knowing.
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May 11, 2026The result is a beautiful album that offers out tantalising strands, begging to be put together. It may be an impossible task, but it’s one to revel in nonetheless.
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May 8, 2026The music will make sense each time. Malleable yet singular, Train On The Island keeps one foot planted on solid ground and the other stepping through a portal into Harding’s weird and wild imagination. It’s a silly, colorful triumph.
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May 8, 2026These 10 songs represent her ideal playground, a space bright and broad enough for her dreamlike visions and mutable voice to take whatever shapes her imagination allows. .... arish knows the seance-like arrangement of microphones that will allow the transformation to occur.
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May 8, 2026Everything played is of course letter perfect with the talent on hand. One thing is for sure and it’s that the album is very much a mixed bag. There are a few too many unexciting turnouts along the way (“Worms,” “San Francisco”) that put Train on the Island near the back of Harding’s otherwise impressive catalog.
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May 7, 2026A dozen listens to Train on the Island, the New Zealand songwriter's mesmerizing fifth record, will yield a dozen interpretations, a century's worth of pondering and re-pondering condensed into 40 minutes.
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May 7, 2026A melodically gifted singer-songwriter, music that’s subtle but never bland; these are disarmingly straightforward pleasures that all the strangeness – mannered or otherwise – can’t obscure.
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May 5, 2026What matters is that Harding remains a fascinating songwriting provocateur, preternaturally discipline, but able to trip emotional wires you might not even know you had. [Jun 2026, p.82]
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May 5, 2026Venus In The Zinnia is an engaging duet with Welsh musician and kindred spirit H. Hawkline. A lot of the other songs may be less immediate but still have their strengths.
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May 5, 2026Aldous Harding's fifth album doesn't deviate much from her winning formula, but there are small flourishes peppered throughout to keep it feeling fresh.
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May 5, 2026She's radio-ready with the first cut from Train On The Island. Taster single "One Stop" is the earworm of the album. [Jun 2026, p.24]