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Mar 30, 2022Like its three predecessors, Warm Chris blazes its own trail, and following along can sometimes feel like grasping at the last vestiges of a late morning dream. It's both compelling and confounding, like Harding herself.
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Mar 31, 2022The fragmentation of characters, the dislocation and purposefully disruptive sense of a core musical identity on Warm Chris make this a collection of disparate songs rather than a body of work – for some this will be a boon, for others problematic.
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Mar 22, 2022The variety in the instrumentation is only met by the variety in her voice; going through registers, accents and even characters, 'Warm Chris' is an album covering the complex and enigmatic voices of a supremely singular talent.
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Mar 23, 2022Where ‘Designer’ had shade, ‘Warm Chris’ offers light. It still feels bizarre, like stepping inside a doll’s house or a hall of mirrors, but it’s less garish, and ushers back in some of the vulnerability of ‘Party’.
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Mar 28, 2022Minor quibble aside, Warm Chris is a fantastic record full of color, humor and wonder.
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Mar 22, 2022Warm Chris is neither refined nor contained: it wanders and wonders, affirming the sheer joy of curiosity.
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Mar 25, 2022It’s slightly less immediate than Designer, but more diverse; and it never once feels derivative of any other artist or Harding herself. Even if taken strictly as a vocal exercise, Warm Chris is a triumph, and another key to unraveling her enigma.
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MojoMar 21, 2022On first listen, warm Chris is les obviously immediate than Designer, though the songs don't take long t worm their way into the mind. [Apr 2022, p.78]
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Mar 28, 2022The music of Aldous Harding is beautiful on the surface, but becomes even more wonderful when given a chance, and when it’s as good a first listen as Warm Chris is, finding time to dive back in is a rather simple task. Warm Chris is the first great album of the coming summer.
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Mar 23, 2022Once given the time and attention it demands, ‘Warm Chris’ is the kind of album that will eventually take root somewhere deep. Its complexities mean that each listen holds new revelations, the record growing richer and richer over time.
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Mar 31, 2022While she's developed her voice in the process, Designer being a shining example of how she showed her many talents with oft-kilter confidence, Warm Chris blends spontaneity and rigidity all at once.
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Mar 25, 2022Warm Chris thrives in that new flexibility, using Harding’s expanded sound to consider the implications of professional and interpersonal performance in turns across its 10 tracks.
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Mar 25, 2022The sound of Warm Chris is sparse and oblique, and trying to anchor yourself in Harding’s lyrics can feel like organizing a narrative from the shape of passing clouds. But that’s also where its brilliance lies, what makes this some of Harding’s best songwriting yet.
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Mar 23, 2022Warm Chris, Aldous Harding occasionally strikes gold but more often falls short of the rich textures and melodic immediacies of previous work.
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Mar 21, 2022Harding continues to exercise her versatility and restraint, delivering an album that invites close attention and rewards it with understated surprises.
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Mar 24, 2022It’s delightfully weird.
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Mar 28, 2022Never before has one of her albums been so vulnerable and reserved. ... This album drips with drama, humor, and naturalness, making Warm Chris a sincere take on life.
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Mar 25, 2022“Warm Chris” is an offbeat, infectious and ultimately liberating invitation to stop making sense.
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Mar 28, 2022Clearly Harding is still having fun, and while it can make for a somewhat jarring listening experience, her playfulness adds depth to this charming record.
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Mar 21, 2022Ultimately, like the Henry Moore sculptures she mentions near the album’s end, Harding’s songs can be as mundanely lifelike from afar as they are strangely alien up close.
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UncutMar 21, 2022Harding goes wherever her voice takes her, and like fellow apostate traditionalist Richard Dawson, she is comfortable picking for shiny scraps of melody on the hard shoulder. As a consequence, these songs command close attention but – like the messy universe around them – do not necessarily beg to be decoded. [Apr 2022, p.18]
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Mar 24, 2022Warm Chris is a marvel to behold and a joy to listen to in spite of it being shot through with tell-tale signs of brokenness and burst bubbles.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 19
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Mixed: 3 out of 19
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Negative: 0 out of 19
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Mar 25, 2022
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Mar 25, 2022Incredible! Aldous does it again! She has such an ear for melody and her songwriting is never anything less than enchanting.
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Apr 4, 2022