Aurora (singer)

AURORA

Aurora performing in 2015
Background information
Birth name Aurora Aksnes
Born (1996-06-15) 15 June 1996
Stavanger,[1] Norway
Origin Os, Norway
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • Harp
Years active 2012–present
Labels
Website www.aurora-music.com

Aurora Aksnes (born 15 June 1996), known mononymously as AURORA, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and producer. Her debut EP Running with the Wolves was released through Decca Records in May 2015,[3] receiving widespread approval from online music blogs and national press. Later the same year she provided the backing track for the John Lewis Christmas advert, singing a cover of the Oasis song "Half the World Away". This cover appears as a bonus track on the deluxe version of her debut studio album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, which was released worldwide on 11 March 2016.

Early life

Aurora Aksnes was born on 15 June 1996 in Stavanger, Norway. She has two older sisters, Miranda, a make-up artist,[4] and Viktoria, a fashion designer.[4][5] She grew up in Os, a municipality in Hordaland close to Bergen. She began creating melodies at the age of 6, and began writing lyrics at the age of 9. Songs like "Running With the Wolves" and "I Went Too Far" were written in this early stage of her life.[6]

Career

2012–16: All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend

Aurora's first track "Puppet" was released in December 2012, followed by her second, "Awakening" in May 2013.[7] Her first single signed to her labels Glassnote Records and Decca Records, "Under Stars" was released in November 2014,[8] and "Runaway" followed in February 2015.[9] "Runaway" achieved success in the UK on streaming service Spotify, reaching 1 million streams after just 6 weeks. The track was also received positively by various online music blogs and national press such as the NME. Her second single, "Running with the Wolves" was released in April 2015 and received attention from national BBC stations Radio One, Radio Two and 6Music.[10] The excitement surrounding the young songstress propelled her onto the festival circuit and she appeared at renowned summer festivals such as Way Out West, Wilderness and Green Man Festival.[11][12][13] Aurora's third single, "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" was released in September 2015 and has received continued support in national press, on national radio and popular online music blogs.[14] She has been included on the soundtrack of FIFA 16,[15] played a sold out headline show in London and supported Of Monsters and Men at Brixton Academy in November 2015.[16] Aurora recorded a cover of the Oasis track "Half the World Away" for the 2015 John Lewis Christmas advert.[17] Her next single, which came after "Half The World Away", was released in January 2016, titled "Conqueror" and a music video was uploaded the following month. Her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend was eventually released on 11 March 2016,[18] receiving generally positive reviews from critics. After releasing it, she went on to embark on her European tour, making a number of visits to the UK in between. She featured in British band Icarus' song "Home" and released a cover of David Bowie's Life on Mars.

On 14 March 2016, Aurora made her American television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing "Conqueror". Aurora soon after performed the track on Conan.[19] On 25 July 2016 she performed her cover of "Life on Mars" on The Howard Stern Show. The following night on 26 July, she performed "I Went Too Far" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In January 2017, "I Went Too Far" was featured in the season 6 trailer for Girls.

2016–present: Upcoming second studio album

On the day of releasing her debut All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, she said that it was "the first album of many" that she has planned. As of 12 May 2016, after coming back from her European tour, Aurora announced that she was ready to begin writing and producing more material, which will eventually form her second studio album. She has said in a Facebook event that she has 15 demo songs and has written 1,000 songs/poems. Since the announcement, Aurora has released "I Went Too Far" as a single, and a music video for the track was released on 4 July 2016.

On 24 December 2016, it was revealed that she would be contributing to the upcoming sci-fi thriller, Alien: Covenant with her version of the song Nature Boy which was written in 1947 by eden ahbez and first recorded by Nat King Cole the following year.[20]

Her song "Under Stars" was used for the end credits music in the video game Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Her song Running with the Wolves has been used as the theme tune for Wolfblood since series 4, and the 9th episode of season 5 of Teen Wolf (2011 TV series).

Her song "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" was used in the background for the opening and closing of 'Infantino Street', the 22nd episode of season 3 of The Flash (2014 TV series),[21] and the 7th episode of season 6 of Teen Wolf (2011 TV series).

Her song "Through the Eyes of a Child" was used in the background of 'The Chosen', the 12th episode of season 4 of The 100 (TV series).[22]

Her song "Winter Bird" was used in season 5, episode 8 of the Australian TV show Wentworth (TV series) broadcast on 23 May 2017. [23]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions
NOR
[24]		 AUS
[25]		 GER
[26]		 IRL
[27]		 UK
[28]		 US
[29]
All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend 1 51 24 66 28 150

Extended plays

Title Details
Running with the Wolves
  • Released: 3 May 2015
  • Label: Decca
  • Formats: Digital download

Singles

As lead artist

Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
GER
[26]		 IRE
[30]		 UK
[28]		 US
Alt
[29]
2013 "Awakening" — — — — Non-album single
2014 "Under Stars" — — — —
2015 "Runaway" — — — — Running with the Wolves - EP
"Running with the Wolves" 72 — — —
"Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" — — — — All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
"Half the World Away" — 22 11 —
2016 "Conqueror" — — — 32
"I Went Too Far" — — — —
"Winter Bird" — — — —
2017 "Animal Soul" — — — — Non-album single
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.
Year Title Album
2016 "Home"
(Icarus featuring Aurora)		 Non-album single

Other appearances

Year Title Album
2016 "Life on Mars" Girls, Vol. 3 (Music from the HBO Original Series)

Filmography

Short films

Year Title Production
2015 Into The Light Kasafilms
2016 Nothing Is Eternal The Fader

Awards and nominations

Year Organization Award Work Result
2015 EBBA Awards '16
by Eurosonic Noorderslag		 Album Of The Year: Norway Running with the Wolves Won
Public Choice Award Aurora Nominated
2016 Spellemannprisen '15 Årets Nykommer (Newcomer of the Year) Won
Gramo scholarship Won
MTV Europe Music Awards Best Norwegian Act Nominated
GAFFA-Prisen Årets Norske Album All My Demons Greeting me as a Friend Won
2017 Spellemannprisen '16 Popsolist (Pop Solo Artist) Won
Årets Album Nominated
Årets Musikkvideo (Music Video of the Year) "I Went too Far" Won

References

  1. ↑ "Aurora Aksnes". Brak. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Kaplan, Ilana. "Listen to Teenage Songstress Aurora's Deft Debut EP". Noisey Vice. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Aurora Announces Debut EP Titled Running with the Wolves". pastemagazine.com.
  4. 1 2 Redaksjonen. "Saman mot toppen". www.magasinett.no. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Despite color: Up and coming: Designer Viktoria Aksnes". despitecolor.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  6. ↑ iamAURORAVEVO (14 December 2015), AURORA - Into The Light, retrieved 20 June 2016
  7. ↑ "AURORA - Awakening". SoundCloud.
  8. ↑ AURORA - Under Stars (Audio) on YouTube
  9. ↑ AURORA - Runaway on YouTube
  10. ↑ "Running With The Wolves". BBC Music.
  11. ↑ "Way Out West » AURORA". Way Out West. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Aurora - Wilderness". wildernessfestival.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Aurora". Green Man Festival. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Butler, Will. "Check out chilling 'Murder Song' from Norwegian singer, Aurora". gigwise.com.
  15. ↑ "FIFA 16 Soundtrack". easports.com.
  16. ↑ "Of Monsters & Men hit the road with Highasakite & Aurora!". 24 November 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  17. ↑ NME.COM. "Norwegian singer Aurora covers Oasis' 'Half The World Away' for John Lewis Christmas advert – watch". NME.COM.
  18. ↑ Aurora announces debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
  19. ↑ "Aurora guests on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon". NBC. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Exclusive Video Premiere: Aurora's Poignant "I Went Too Far"". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  21. ↑ https://www.tunefind.com/show/the-flash/season-3/47500
  22. ↑ https://www.tunefind.com/show/the-100/season-4/47535
  23. ↑ https://www.tunefind.com/show/wentworth/season-5/47666
  24. ↑ http://lista.vg.no/liste/topp-40-album/2/dato/2016/uke/11
  25. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2 April 2016). "ARIA Albums: Zayn Has the No 1 Album in Australia". Noise11. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  26. 1 2 Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Aurora Aksnes". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  27. ↑ "AURORA". chart-track.co.uk. Chart-Track.
  28. 1 2 "AURORA". Officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company.
  29. 1 2 "AURORA - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  30. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Aurora Aksnes". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
  31. ↑ "Certified Awards" (To access, enter the search parameter "Aurora" and select "Search"). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  32. ↑ "Forbildepriser til kvinnene i musikklivet". News. Norsk musikkråd (online) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norwegian Music Council. 8 April 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
Awards
Preceded by
Emilie Nicolas		 Recipient of the Newcomer Spellemannprisen
2015 		Succeeded by
Astrid S
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