After teasing fans one last time with the release of ‘Some Type of Skin’, BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record last week, Norwegian alt-pop superstar AURORA today announces her fourth studio album What Happened To The Heart?, due for release on June 7th via Decca Records/Glassnote/Petroleum.
Alongside this, she has revealed plans for her eleven-date headline UK & Europe arena tour in September and October 2024, including a night at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 2nd. Tickets will go on general sale from 10am BST on April 5th.
In April 2022, AURORA read a letter that changed her life. It was co-written by indigenous activists, titled ‘We Are the Earth’, and called for a revolution: a collective response to global warming – to “heal the land”. They described being connected to the land “through our hearts”, and the earth as “the heart that pulsates within us.” The letter led AURORA to consider a question: what happened to the heart? And so 27-year-old Norwegian alt-pop superstar AURORA began studying books on human anatomy, wanting to understand when and why Western culture lost touch with the deeper purpose of our most vital organ.
What Happened To The Heart? is a journey from weakness to strength, from self-destruction to self-healing. A poignant and introspective musical journey that explores the loss of spiritual connection in modern society, the healing power of vulnerability, and the call to ignite change through reuniting the heart with politics and personal growth. Revealed last week, the newest release, ‘Some Type of Skin’ delves into the album's central struggle: vulnerability leads to bleeding, yet there's a need to go to battle to build some type of skin.
Therefore AURORA threw herself into chaos, writing this new record during the tour for UK Top 10 album ‘The Gods We Can Touch’, with only one rule: she could only write in unsafe spaces, to build her armour. That meant no forests, where Aurora had spent much of her childhood in Bergen, Norway, making this album a new era for AURORA. Travelling over the word also gave her the chance to meet with women she describes as modern-day philosophers, and who inspired her with their feminine power. In particular, three female tribe leaders in Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. “There is wisdom in their indigenous values. These women live in the modern world just like us, but they still choose to live with kindness.”
Describing the album as the “most personal and cathartic album” she has ever written. AURORA adds “Though its precise function and anatomy were not clearly understood, the heart was believed to be the centre of the soul. Of intuition. Of emotion and intention. Until we decided these were qualifications of the mind. Emotion overpowered by logic. And with the world being so corrupted by money, power and selfishness you cannot help but ask yourself - what happened to the heart?”
Recorded between Norway, Germany, London and Los Angeles, the new record sees previous and new collaborators joining AURORA such as Ane Brun, Matias Tellez (girl in red, Maisie Peters), Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers, Chris Greatti (Yungblud, , Blink-182, Pussy Riot), Dave Hamelin (Beyonce, King Princess and Zara Larsson) amongst others, but also Magnus Skylstad, who has been with AURORA since her first album All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend. From haunting folkloric melodies to throbbing techno beats, each collaborator infuses their own style into the album adding depth and dimension to AURORA's introspective journey.
In 2022, AURORA released her UK Top 10 chart-topping last album, ‘The Gods We Can Touch’, which saw her complete a sold-out UK headline tour, including Brixton Academy. With over a million album sales and 2.6 billion streams, followed this year by her inaugural 'The Gods We Can Touch' book selling 14,000 copies and the dance and music of her fastest ever streamed single ‘Cure For Me’ being integrated into Fortnite last month, AURORA is pulling in a bigger audience than ever before.
In a remarkable return last November, AURORA released ‘Your Blood’ and ‘The Conflict of The Mind’, championed on BBC Radio 1 & BBC Radio 2 and garnered more than two millions views on YouTube. With a summer ahead that includes Glastonbury Festival, plus her EU & UK headline shows for September & October, this is only the start of what could be the most exciting era for AURORA.
2024 Aurora UK & EU Tour Dates:
September 18th – Alcatraz, Milan, Italy
September 20th – Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
September 21st – Sportovní hala Fortuna, Prague, Czechia
September 23rd – Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland
September 24th – COS Torwar, Warsaw, Poland
September 25th – UFO, Berlin, Germany
September 27th – Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
September 28th – AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
September 30th – L’Olympia, Paris, France
October 2nd – Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
October 4th – O2 Apollo, Manchester, UK
2024 Festivals:
June 26th-30th – Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England
June 21st – Tbilisi Open Air, Tbilisi, Georgia
July 5th – Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark
6th July – Down The Rabbit Hole, Ewijk, The Netherlands
July 10th – Slottsfjell Festival, Tønsberg, Norway
July 12th – NOS Alive, Lisbon, Portugal
July 13th – Cruilla Festival, Barcelona, Spain
July 18th – Ravnedalen, Kristiansand, Norway
July 19th – Malakoff Festival, Nordfjordeid, Norway
July 24th – Paleo Festival, Nyon, Switzerland
August 17-18th – Summer Sonic, Osaka/Tokyo Japan
August 23rd – LaLaLa Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia
August 25th – Summer Sonic, Bangkok, Thailand
August 31st – Zurich Open Air, Zurich, Switzerland
August – Sziget, Budapest, Hungary
