Final Rating: 7/10
Aurora Aksnes (stage named AURORA) is a Nineteen year old Singer and Songwriter from Os, Norway. She has been singing and writing songs since the age of Twelve, and has released a few singles since 2014. Finally, she has released her debut album “All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend”, with Glassnote Records on March 11th, 2016.
This record wasn’t bad, I had to keep reminding myself to take into account the fact that this was her debut album. With this in consideration, she did a good job however quite honestly; this album really did not leave me with an incredible amount of impact. There were most definitely a few songs that I enjoyed, one that particularly stuck with me, but it wasn’t “amazing” to my eyes. I think my opinion of this is also somewhat biased because I am not particularly a fan of pop music however for fans of this genre, they may find the record more enjoyable than I did.
The song “Runaway” was an abrupt opening, but enjoyable. The vocals were very echoed but smooth, and I enjoyed the way they sounded on this track. It was kind of a slow song to open the album, but this isn’t really a defeating factor of the album. Her lyrics are incredibly descriptive, and I think that she does a fantastic job at telling stories within her music. For instance, “I was painting a picture, The picture was a painting of you, and for a moment I thought you were here but then again, it wasn’t true”. This is an excellent and clear portrayal of what she is trying to say, and I heavily admire that. The lyrics are not confusing in this album, and she tells her stories ever so clearly. Due to the fact that the lyrics are incredibly descriptive, it is really an additive because it allows listeners to immerse themselves in the music. I really think this all falls back onto the fact that she has been writing songs for numerous years now, giving her an edge over other artists who A) Just began writing, and B) Have songwriters do it for them. Maybe she is not a multi-instrumentalist however, having an amazing voice and impeccable writing skills most definitely makes up for this.
Speaking of instrumentals, this album does not contain much of that. It is very electronic based, which is also something I am not particularly a huge fan of. Putting myself in the position of someone who finds this more enjoyable than I, it wasn’t all that bad. When electronic music is featured within tracks I find that it often can tend to wash away the artist and over-power their voice but with this album, that did not happen and I applaud whoever mixed the album for this. They stayed subtle in the background, and her voice remained the focal point; which is very important! AURORA has an EXTREMELY strong voice, which needs to be displayed and heard! For instance, Lady Gaga also has a beautiful and strong voice but I don’t think it was displayed as much as it is now, back when she first began. People didn’t realize how great of a singer she was until they began to refrain from overproducing the background music.
I really appreciated the addition of folk in “Murder Song (5,4,3,2,1), it was a nice change up and it was interesting to hear the combination of folk and electronic; something I have never heard before. The song “Under The Water” didn’t really leave me with any lasting impression. My two favorite songs off of this album were “Black Water Lillies” and “Half The World Away”. I adored the beautiful piano introduction in “Black Water Lillies”, I only wish that it could have lasted just a tad longer. I think this song ultimately displayed her voice the best throughout the album, allowing her to reach her highest pitch. Lastly, “Half The World Away” was breath taking. It was a very sentimental track, and I really enjoyed this because it did not include any use of electronic, and it felt very organic to me.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad album and for a debut album, it was pretty well done. I am looking forward to see what else she can come up with.
Download “All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend” by AURORA on iTunes.
