Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore – Marlon Williams ft. Aldous Harding

marlon williams

After recently discovering the Kiwi brilliance that is Aldous Harding, I soon stumbled across this duet with another Kiwi icon, Marlon Williams.

Isn’t is strange, impossible to claim your reward,
I cannot explain, emotions I can barely afford to contain,
You’re the same, you hide away from anything that turns you on,
Nobody gets what they want anymore.

It’s a highly melancholy song, sung in a tone of despair. But it’s so dreamy and relaxing to listen to.

No words, only scream, could possibly protect you, you know what it means,
Two is the charm, a place therein around us and pray and pray,
And saying the name there is no blame, there is no shame, and even more,
Nobody gets what they want anymore.

There’s no animosity in the song, it just sounds like pure surrender to a really bad
situation. I think it’s a break up song:

What am I going to do when you’re in trouble,
And you don’t call out for me?
What am I going to do when I can see that you’ve been crying,
And you don’t want no help from me?
Baby, I can’t separate us out anymore.

It sounds like Marlon Williams is saying: ‘Something really terrible has happened but there’s nothing I can do about it. And that’s that.’

I love Aldous Harding. She’s the perfect choice for this song – it’s not as powerful when Marlon Williams sings it by himself in live performances.

Nevertheless, Marlon’s almost classical voice is faultless, and Aldous’s alternative style is perfect.

The music video to accompany this song is quite tongue-in-cheek (below), which I like. Marlon plays a waiter who keeps getting the orders wrong and ‘nobody gets what they want’.

Jodie.

Imagining My Man – Aldous Harding

aldous harding review

A blend of Joanna Newsom’s folk style and Kate Bush’s theatrical tone makes New Zealand’s Aldous Harding.

I had never heard of her before, but apparently one of her songs is on an advert back home at the moment.

The melody of Imagining My Man makes you melt; the soft keyboard and guitar relaxes you completely. The gentle clarinet (?) at the end is the cherry on top.

I’m going to answer, protecting
It can be so hard to forgive
It’s not what I thought, and it’s not what I pictured
When I was imagining my man

Her style of singing is certainly unique; I thought she was Swedish at first. But her distinctive voice is brilliant and full of emotion.

I love the rawness and honesty of Harding. I’ve watched a few live performances and she doesn’t hold back with exaggerated facial expressions. I heard her apologise ‘for what you’re about to see, but it’s all for the good of the song’ in the Tiny Desk Concert – I assume it was regarding her expressions. Nevertheless, I hope she doesn’t make a habit of apologising.

All my life (hey!) I’ve had to fight to stay
You were right, love takes time, hey, hey

I have since graduated on to another one of her songs, Horizon, which I love too.

Looking forward to hearing more of her!

Jodie