Aurora interview: 'None of my songs are about me'

Norwegian artist on living in the woodland surroundings of Bergen and how themes of sexuality influenced her new album

Norwegian singer Aurora

In 2016, Aurora released her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend. Since then, her icy, pealing vocals, dark lyricism and sunny personality have won the Nordic artist a legion of fans around the world.

Following a global album tour, she shared her documentary Nothing Is Eternal, which offered insights into the woodland surroundings in her hometown of Bergen.

Aurora is gearing up to release her second album. Two singles, "Queendom" and "Forgotten Love", have paved the way for her new era. Here she tells us how this as yet untitled album will be a story of the world’s experiences - rather than her own.

Hi Aurora, tell us what's changed since the release of your debut album

Well, my life has changed a lot for the last two years. The world I’ve explored has changed a lot. I’ve seen so many different landscapes while touring, and it’s really inspiring to see how big the world is. I want to explore and try out different parts of nature.

But I don’t like the desert, I feel sorry for the plants! Or maybe I do like it… it makes you thirsty to look at it...

But you’re still living at home in the Bergen forest. Do you think you’ll ever move to somewhere like LA?

No! I love my home, it’s so quiet there. You can walk naked in your garden. No one cares who you are there because everyone knows everyone. I feel part of it, just another branch.

Now you're a recognised artist outside of your hometown, do your neighbours look at you differently?

They look at me the same but with a certain kind of pride, like - “you did it, good job!” - it’s like I’m everyone’s daughter. It’s very supportive in a down to earth way.

It’s weird because now, after "Queendom", it’s the first time I’ve gotten recognised in the street in America. That’s really weird. I don’t know if I like it. I like the people - but not the concept. Of being known.

What else influenced the new album - were you listening to any other artists?

Well, I don’t have radio, I don’t have iTunes, I don’t have Spotify. I just have some LPs at home and a few CDs. I don’t like listening to music, it’s just like noise, when you’re doing different things. I like it in a train or in an airport, because then the other noise is worse.

But I really like Enya, and I really like Underworld. 1992-2012 is the only album I know by them but I like it, it’s kind of like techno - you can go to a rave party. Then I love Leonard Cohen. Those are the three artists I listen to. And I only have the same songs.

And what about political influences? "Queendom" was the first single from the new album - what inspired it? It sounds like it might be a feminist anthem? Or maybe a queer anthem?

"Queendom" is for everyone that hasn’t been respected. I’m a feminist because I’m a woman, it’s as easy as that. But homosexuality was an even bigger inspiration to the song than feminism. It was after I visited Brazil and some places where I realised the political status around same sex love was really bad. I just thought to myself "okay, the world sucks, so I’m going to write this song and make a new world for us".

I’m really passionate about it. Right now I have a boyfriend who’s a very "manly" man, and has more beard than anyone I’ve ever seen. But I had a girlfriend before that, who I was with for a year. I just like to enjoy what is there, and I like to explore. Just love everything around you and you’re loving yourself.

Do you want this album to be "political"? Many of your fans seem to view you as a role model.

Yes, but not in a black or white way. "This or that, pick a side." My only political view is that everything should be allowed to have respect and be accepted for what it is. I think people like to be passive once in a while, it’s really tiring to be human. But that’s why I want to involve it in my music.

Often I think it’s done in the wrong way, by lecturing people. It’s like we’re just being reminded of all the things we haven’t done. I want to involve people in a nice way, in a way that appeals to the heart and the body first.

So that dark male influence that we see in new songs like “Churchyard” - you’re not talking about Trump there?

Not exactly. But he’s a bully. His thing is to be outrageous. Do you think he knows what he’s doing? It’s scary to see a leader persona like that, how his speech is the opposite of everything everyone has fought for before him. It proves how quickly a big group of humans can just switch around if someone feeds their anger and fear. It’s really scary.

Do you think that young people can fight back against people like him? Like you say in "Queendom" - “we’re all warriors”, aren’t we?

Yes! None of my songs are about me (just “Lucky” and “Runaway” from the first album) or my own experiences, but everything is the world’s experiences. “Churchyard” is just like the concept of someone bigger using their power in the wrong way, that happens all the time in politics, with children, women. I wanted the songs to feel empowering - like at the end of “Churchyard”, she comes back to haunt him.

So you're positive that your generation still has a lot of hope?

I think they’re gonna do a lot. We are more and more united, and everything works better when we’re united. It's nice to see people begin to question things more and more, because it’s so easy to go along with what's already happening.

I think it’s also dangerous because we compare ourselves a lot to everything we see. It’s important to understand the balance. Via social media we’re learning about the world but it’s also keeping us away from the world.