Earlier this year, New Zealand-native singer-songwriter Aldous Harding announced her fourth studio album Warm Chris, released the shimmering lead single “Lawn,” and unveiled a batch of tour dates. She’s back today, only a couple of weeks before the arrival of Warm Chris, with the vibrant single “Fever.” It doesn’t sound feverish, though; it’s calm and level-headed, adorned with an array of enchanting instruments that add to its gorgeousness: flute, trombone, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and more.
In typical Aldous Harding fashion, the song comes with a weird, cinematic video with lots of interesting outfits and unanswered questions. It’s certainly not as eccentric as the 2017 “Blend” video, for which she was a bikini-wearing cowboy.
“The concept is based on that awful scene from Apocalypse Now where the playmates pile out of the helicopter,” she explained. “The costume was handmade for me, it turned out great. It’s in the bin.”
That song came from her sophomore effort Party, which we named one of the most acclaimed breakout records of that year, especially for its versatility that outlier tracks like “Imagining My Man” proved. She continues to push against expectations with this new sprawling album.
Watch the “Fever” video above.
Warm Chris is out 3/25 via 4AD. Pre-order it here.