Star on the forehead, look between princess and elf, Aurora seems to have fallen from another planet: the Norwegian also attracts attention with her electro-pop, setting a plea for the right to gender-neutral sexuality.
At 25, the diaphanous-skinned artist knows how to convey his messages. First by capturing the light with her scenic double, inspired by children’s stories and a universe of heroic fantasy (as Björk, to whom she is often compared, was able to do).
Then with his melodies. A former title, “Runaway”, has more than 430 million plays on Spotify, the leader in music platforms.
She was even dubbed by the Chemical Brothers, electro figures with whom she sang.
A new song, “Cure for me”, has all the power of the tube. This “Treatment for me”, she sings that she does not want it, precisely.
As a feminist echo to “Don’t free me, I’ll take care of it”. It is also a reference to those countries which still consider homosexuality to be a disease to be treated.
“The system, the world, the religion, the society, push us to be ashamed of what we are, of the color of our skins, of the shape of our bodies, of our sexualities”, exposes the author-composer- interpreter, met by AFP in Paris.
Aurora Aksnes, by her artist name Aurora, on January 28, 2022 in Paris / AFP
“It’s devastating, we only have one life, and we are stuck with this guilt because we think differently or because we are gay”, she continues, a small golden star placed on her forehead, just under fringe.
The piece “Giving in to the love” denounces in passing these deceptive mirrors that are screens, TVs or telephones.
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“We are made to believe that we have to be hyper productive to justify our existence, that we have to be beautiful, famous, rich, have followers”, she points out. “Our obsession with perfection is frightening, because it doesn’t exist.”
For her, the lifelines are art, in general, and music, in particular. References abound around his latest album “The gods we can touch”, released recently.
Norwegian singer Aurora at the Hoxton hotel, January 28, 2022 in Paris / AFP
The clip for “Cure for me” winks at the film “Beetlejuice” by Tim Burton, while that for “Giving in to the love” awakens the memory of “Beauty and the Beast” by Jean Cocteau, with these statues that come to life. Cinema always, with the song “Blood in the wine” which opens with a tribute to the maestro of the soundtrack of the western-spaghetti, Ennio Morricone. Aurora lent her voice for sequences of “The Snow Queen 2”, Disney’s animated film.
And the Norwegian has found allies, like the French singer Pomme, who sings with her on “Everything matters”. These two celestial voices met for the first time in Paris this week, after recording from a distance.
France is a common thread in Aurora’s journey. During the making of her previous album, “A different kind of human”, she had passed through a recording studio not far from Avignon. For this one, she isolated herself in a castle in Norway, passed into the hands of a Frenchman several centuries ago. And to conclude: “For my next album, I think I have to settle in a castle in France”.
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