The first stop is Guangzhou, the second stop is Shanghai, and more to follow (Beijing and Chengdu) are eagerly anticipated… Are you ready? Let’s join Xiao Xi and escape to the embrace of dreams, immersing ourselves in music! It is not uncommon for artists to draw inspiration from the Earth and nature, but some artists do not need to deliberately seek inspiration because they are born of nature. AURORA AKSNES is one of them; her music is as enchanting as the aurora borealis that shares her name.
Ancient trees whisper in the cold north wind, the frosty ground is covered with moss and dead branches, and through the foggy light, occasional faint green dots appear. AURORA creates and dances in the quiet and desolate forests of Norway, her ethereal voice blending with the pulse of nature.
Formerly, AURORA was known for her cute and spirited jellyfish hairstyle, but now she sports shoulder-length hair with a bang that looks like a leaf on her forehead. Her attire is colorful and quirky.
She will stare at you with her big blue eyes, as if peering into your soul. Her personality is also fascinating: warm, humorous, passionate, gentle, mysterious, and powerful. AURORA grew up in the small Norwegian town of Ås, about 30 kilometers south of the capital Oslo, not far from the sea, surrounded by vast fields and forests. Her family’s garden often hosts wild birds, hedgehogs, and ladybugs. She spends most of her time outdoors alone, as she puts it, she is a “person of the forest.”
The forest nurtures her love for nature, singing, and clothing, as well as her perceptiveness towards all things. She plays in the forest like an elf, and when her mother wants to call her home for dinner, she even uses a very primitive method – ringing a bell to “summon” her.
In addition to playing outdoors, AURORA’s childhood was also immersed in a variety of music: from classical composers such as Mozart and Edvard Grieg to pop icons like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. AURORA is very fond of “extreme” sounds; she collects sounds from nature that few people notice, such as soil and water, which can even be described as “silent.” She also loves metal music. For her, the sound of heavy metal (power, volume, intensity) is roughly the same as the synthesizer sound used in Enya’s “Orinoco Flow” mixed with folk. Both feel like a “powerful wall, a force of nature.”
At the age of six, AURORA began composing melodies on an old piano in her attic.
At the age of nine, she began to write lyrics in her second language – English. She believes that English, like music, is a universal language. She often writes songs with themes of supernatural and life, society and the environment, life and death, as well as emotions revealed from within, with a maturity and sensitivity beyond her peers. AURORA’s quirky personality and outstanding talent in artistic creation are not favored by everyone. Her two elder sisters once worried that their younger sister would not be accepted by her peers. Although she has some friends and good academic results, going to school is not her happiest time. At school, she always seems out of place. At the age of seven or eight, AURORA once tried to design clothes by herself. She stacked many pieces of cloth together and spliced them; she also cut open socks and then put her arms into the sock holes. When describing the reactions of her peers at that time, she is reluctant to use the word ‘bullying’. She believes that the whispers, ridicule and gazes she encountered at that time have instead shaped who she is now. In 2014, when AURORA was 18 years old, the song Puppet created for her parents and an original song calling for world peace performed with a guitar at a school assembly were posted online. She was discovered and signed by the agency Decca. In 2015, AURORA released her debut EP Running with the Wolves, marking her official entry onto the global music stage. The title song Runaway became popular after its release, with over 870 million clicks on Spotify (more than 12 million listeners per month) and over 640 million views on YouTube. Katy Perry tweeted that it had been a long time since a song made her heart tremble and called on everyone to pay attention to this girl who was only seventeen years old. Even Billie Eilish, who had not debuted at that time, was inspired by her and firmly chose the path of music: ‘When I saw AURORA, something deep inside me was inspired. That’s what I want to do!’ AURORA soon ascended some of the most prestigious stages in the world. Her music is used in the soundtracks of many video games, TV dramas and movies – you can hear her sing ‘Into the Unknown’ with Idina Menzel, one of the most widely known songs in ‘Frozen II’. Her song Runaway also appears in the second season of the highly regarded science fiction series ‘Westworld’.
In November 2022, AURORA, as the collaborating singer of the award-winning mobile game ‘Sky: Children of the Light’, jointly launched ‘Sky: Aurora Season’. In December, the ‘Aurora Season: Concert’ was opened on the game side. She sang and interacted in the game room and continued to convey beauty and love as always. This activity enabled ‘Sky: Children of the Light’ to obtain the Guinness World Record for the highest number of users in a virtual world with a concert theme in a game. During live performances, AURORA will take you into the artistic universe she has created with her music: composed of Nordic dark folk and electronic pop music. She uses the traditional Nordic kulning singing method and preaches with dances that are as spiritual and naturally beautiful as her music. When the skirt flutters freely as she turns, you will feel the greatest vitality and primitive freedom conveyed by AURORA. Through music, she has also established a global community full of warmth, which she calls ‘Warriors and Weirdos’. Some people join because of their love for her music, and some people join because of their recognition of the values she conveys (such as diversity, environmental protection, and freedom). But this community is still evolving. She likes to redefine her personality and music. For her, doing so sounds closest to freedom.
Opening time: Friday, February 28. Performance start time: 20:15. The specific performance duration is subject to the site.
Shanghai · AURORA ‘WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EARTH?’ Tour
The first stop is Guangzhou, the second stop is Shanghai, and more to follow (Beijing and Chengdu) a[...]
