Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend (Album Review)
Friday, 18 March 2016
Written by Huw Baines
Aurora’s debut album, ‘All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend’, is a mass of contradictions. At its heart is a seemingly boundless sense of imagination, but it’s one wedded to a palette of sounds that can appear unremarkable by comparison.
The Norwegian newcomer inhabits a world of icy synths and cavernous arrangements, with a well of glossy pop hooks at her disposal. Her voice, meanwhile, is crisp and carries for miles, creating an immediately enticing cocktail. The problems arise when the hope that something otherworldly might take hold overwhelms the polite melodies.
On the occasions that the weirdness is really allowed in, as it is on the sweeping Running With The Wolves, a song about ditching everything and retreating to the woods, the results are invigorating.
Conqueror, another of the album’s singles, is also a propulsive treat, while I Went Too Far is a winning mesh of drama and sinewy beats. But too often ‘All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend’ is content to play it safe, notably on the sickly Through The Eyes of a Child and overwrought Warrior.
That’s a particular shame, as Aurora trades in vivid lyrical imagery and iconography. She sings of death and drowning, escape, rebellion, light and dark and the idea of submitting to fate, with each line draped in garb fit for the top 40.
There is the suggestion throughout that she has so much territory to explore in future and might do so under the glare of a spotlight. That is exciting. But for now, Aurora is waiting to break free.
Aurora Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon October 03 2016 - GLASGOW Art School
Tue October 04 2016 - MANCHESTER Ritz
Thu October 06 2016 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE University
Fri October 07 2016 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute2
Sat October 08 2016 - BRISTOL Trinity
Mon October 10 2016 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2
Tue October 11 2016 - OXFORD O2 Academy Oxford
Thu October 13 2016 - LONDON O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Sat October 15 2016 - CAMBRIDGE Junction
Sun October 16 2016 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Click here to compare & buy Aurora Tickets at Stereoboard.com.
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