Designer (album)

Designer
Studio album by Aldous Harding
Released	26 April 2019 (2019-04-26)
Studio	Rockfield Studios (Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales)
Length	40:32
Label	4AD
Producer	John Parish
Aldous Harding chronology
Party (2017) Designer (2019) Warm Chris (2022)
Singles from Designer
"The Barrel" Released: 2019 "Fixture Picture" Released: 2019

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.2/10[1]
Metacritic	88/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Guardian	[4]
The Independent	[5]
Mojo	[6]
NME	[7]
The Observer	[8]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[9]
Q	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Uncut	8/10[12]

Designer is the third studio album by the New Zealand indie folk singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, released on 26 April 2019 by 4AD.^[13] The song "The Barrel" won the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll award.^[14]

Accolades

Accolades for Designer

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	Top 50 Albums of 2019 (Mid-Year)	—	[15]
Exclaim!	Top 29 Albums of 2019 (Mid-Year)	28	[16]
Gorilla vs. Bear	Top 20 Albums of 2019 (Mid-Year)	6	[17]
Paste	Top 25 Albums of 2019 (Mid-Year)	23	[18]
Rolling Stone	Top 50 Albums of 2019 (Mid-Year)	—	[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Aldous Harding

Designer track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fixture Picture"	4:07
2.	"Designer"	4:16
3.	"Zoo Eyes"	5:17
4.	"Treasure"	4:11
5.	"The Barrel"	4:59
6.	"Damn"	6:27
7.	"Weight of the Planets"	4:43
8.	"Heaven Is Empty"	3:19
9.	"Pilot"	3:13
Total length:		40:32

Personnel

• Aldous Harding – vocals, acoustic and classical guitar
• John Parish – acoustic and electric guitar, piano, organ, mellotron, drums, congas, percussion, mixing
• H. Hawkline – bass guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer, vocal percussion, design, layout
• Gwion Llewelyn – drums, vocals
• Stephen Black – tenor, baritone and alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
• Clare Mactaggart – violin
• Jared Samuel – celesta on "Damn"

Charts

Chart performance for Designer

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20]	53
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21]	45
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22]	22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23]	96
French Albums (SNEP)[24]	101
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25]	98
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26]	5
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[27]	27
Scottish Albums (OCC)[28]	15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29]	89
UK Albums (OCC)[30]	33
UK Americana Albums (OCC)[31]	3
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[32]	7
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[33]	10
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[34]	29

References

1. "Designer by Aldous Harding reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
2. "Designer by Aldous Harding Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
3. Monger, James Christopher. "Designer – Aldous Harding". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
4. Petridis, Alexis (25 April 2019). "Aldous Harding: Designer review – cryptic charm and shimmering psychedelic pop". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
5. O'Connor, Roisin; Bray, Elisa (25 April 2019). "Album reviews: Aldous Harding, The Cranberries, Soak, and Catfish and the Bottlemen". The Independent. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
6. Segal, Victoria (May 2019). "Aldous Harding: Designer". Mojo. No. 306. p. 93.
7. Trendell, Andrew (25 April 2019). "Aldous Harding – 'Designer' review". NME. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
8. Empire, Kitty (28 April 2019). "Aldous Harding: Designer review – a true original". The Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
9. Horn, Olivia (26 April 2019). "Aldous Harding: Designer". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
10. Aroesti, Rachel (June 2019). "Immaculate Design". Q. No. 398. p. 117.
11. Hermes, Will (25 April 2019). "Review: The Fetching Surrealism of Aldous Harding's 'Designer'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
12. Osmon, Erin (May 2019). "Aldous Harding: Designer". Uncut. No. 264. p. 33.
13. "Aldous Harding : New Album 'Designer' Details, Plus Incredible 'The Barrel' Video Out Now". 4AD. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
14. "Aldous Harding takes top gong at 2019 Silver Scroll Awards". Stuff. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
15. "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Billboard. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
16. "Exclaim!'s Top 29 Albums of 2019 So Far". Exclaim!. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
17. "2019 - Top Albums of Mid-year 2019". Gorilla vs. Bear. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
18. "The 25 Best Albums of 2019 (So Far)". Paste. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
19. "50 Best Albums of 2019 So Far". Rolling Stone. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
20. Ryan, Gavin (5 May 2019). "Australian Charts: Pink scores her sixth number one album in Australia". Noise11. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
21. "Austriancharts.at – Aldous Harding – Designer" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
22. "Ultratop.be – Aldous Harding – Designer" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
23. "Ultratop.be – Aldous Harding – Designer" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
24. "Lescharts.com – Aldous Harding – Designer". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Aldous Harding – {{{album}}}" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
26. "Charts.nz – Aldous Harding – Designer". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
27. "Portuguesecharts.com – Aldous Harding – Designer". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
28. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Aldous Harding – Designer". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
30. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
31. "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
32. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
33. "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
34. "Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 31 May 2019.

External links

• Designer at Discogs (list of releases)
• Aldous Harding performs live with six album songs and interview, Morning Becomes Eclectic, 9 May 2019, KCRW