In comparison to todays other ‘reviewee’ Mani Orrason, our next artist Aurora Aksnes is getting a bit old…. ok ok, so shes only 18, but that’s a whole year older than young Mani – and they certainly have a lot in common in terms of their exceptional maturity of song composition and vocal qualities.
I listened to Auroras new EP ‘Running with the Wolves’ on Tuesday morning, the day after its release and I was instantly struck by her outstanding voice, and 4 individual songs with a real identity and with a distinct Norwegian Folk influence. Opening track ‘Runaway’ (see the video below) provides a stage for that incredible voice, its haunting, and manages to switch between both being powerful and delicate at times too. ‘Running with the Wolves’ is probably the most ‘commercial’ sounding song, its also probably the track furthest away from my natural music preferences, but theres no denying what a great song it is.
Its actually the 2 latter tracks, ‘In Boxes’ and ‘Little Boy in the Grass’ that appealed to me the most. In these songs the importance of storytelling in Auroras songwriting comes through most powerfully, and its ‘Little Boy in the Grass’ which is the most stunning track of all – captivating, engaging and always with that beautiful voice flowing through it all.
I was unaware until after I listened and enjoyed the tracks a few times that the EP was quite so ‘highly anticipated’, but those words are just for record companies. The simple reality is that Aurora has a stunning voice, writes well written, accessible pop songs which have a lovely folk influence, and I have no doubts that many more people will be able to enjoy what she does as her name gets known around the world.
'Running with the Wolves' is available on Itunes and Spotify, and shes playing live in London in June.