Executives from Decca Records praise 'enchanting performer' Aurora before her Glastonbury show on Friday night.
A Casual Conv conv about Aurora's Latest Album Spectacle and Upcoming Glastonbury Show
The Norwegian songstress, Aurora, has been chatting to Music Week about her latest record, the upcoming Glastonbury performance, and the biggest tour yet on her horizon. Her newest LP, What Happened To The Heart?, recently grabbed a spot in the UK Top 10 (peaking at No.8 with 7,023 sales, OCC).
Aurora's relationship with Decca goes way back to her debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, which has been her best seller up till now with 73,383 sales. Her discography includes 2018's Infections Of A Different Kind (Step 1) with 11,886 sales, 2019's A Different Kind Of Human (Step 2) with 20,643 units, and 2022's The Gods We Can Touch with 24,220 sales.
Co-president Laura Monks of Decca expressed her admiration for the artist, saying, “Aurora is a magical artist, and we always feel positive when we’re working with her. We’ve been part of her magical world for nearly a decade now, and it’s beautiful that we can still feel the momentum growing.”
Aurora has gone one step further by including The Earth as a collaborator in the credits of each track on her new album. Royalties and donations collected by Brian Eno's EarthPercent charity will be directed towards biodiversity conservation and restoration projects, in line with Aurora's commitment to environmental awareness.
Monks added, “Aurora has always had environmental issues at the heart of what she’s passionate about. She has deeply meaningful values in her personal life and in how she works.”
Aurora has always been a globally recognized artist, as Laura Monks pointed out: “We've always talked about Aurora as an extremely international artist, and she retains that to this day.”
To celebrate the release of What Happened To The Heart?, Decca teamed up with livestreaming company Groovy Gecko to host an online album release party. This event welcomed 14 international fan groups to join simultaneously, attracting over 4,500 live viewers across eight time zones.
Represented by Olly Ward of UTA, Aurora has also secured a coveted 7:30 PM slot on the Park Stage at Glastonbury this Friday and has already sold 129,000 tickets for her 2024/25 What Happened To The Earth? Tour. This tour will take Aurora to 37 cities, including a sold-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall in October and her first headline date at OVO Arena Wembley on May 3, 2025.
In France, she sold out Paris' L'Olympia in just 10 minutes, prompting the addition of another night at Le Zénith, while in Brazil she will play 16,000-capacity venues and 25,000-capacity in Mexico. Aurora also sold 14,000 copies of her debut book (originally intended for a run of 1,000).
To dive deeper into all this and more, Music Week sits down with Laura Monks and Tom Lewis for an enlightening interrogation...
What has powered the What Happened To The Heart? campaign?
Tom Lewis: "The visuals have been incredibly strong, just like in earlier albums. Aurora sketches out her world of influences and inspirations for each record, and her ideas for the album translates into a powerful visual identity. Last time around, she shared the sketchbook with her fans, and it actually became a best-seller for us. We're doing the same thing again. Aurora continues to grow, and we don't think she's anywhere near reaching her global potential yet."
Laura Monks: "We still have several tracks to focus on, and the live and recorded aspects of the campaign are working together nicely."
TL: "And the management team led by Geir Lueda and Jamila Scott of Made Guy along with her agent, Olly Ward, have kept things consistent throughout the years."
How will Glastonbury maximise Aurora's platform?
TL: "This will be her biggest Glastonbury moment. It's a sunset slot at the Park Stage on the Friday night, and it's being televised, which is awesome. It's an opportunity for her to demonstrate her mass appeal, capture new fans, and put on a fantastic set."
LM: "We've always viewed Aurora as an extremely international artist, and she still holds that status. We released tickets in Chile and they sold out in half an hour. However, with this new campaign, there's been a solidification of her status as a serious artist in the UK. She had huge queues outside her in-store at Pryzm that stretched on for miles, and fans were turning up at 5 am.
"I hope Glastonbury will finally show everyone the massive crowd of people singing her lyrics. Her songs are incredibly powerful, and it'll be a moving, emotional spectacle."
Post-festival season, Aurora will embark on her biggest headlining tour yet. Will the live show scale to the larger venues?
LM: "The great thing about Aurora is that she can seamlessly transition from graceful, innocent vocals on smaller tracks, to massive ballads, all the way to full-on rave vibes on tracks like 'Starvation.' She can be a delicate fairy princess one moment and a fierce warrior the next, and it's mesmerizing to watch."
TL: "Another factor in Aurora's appeal is her raw honesty. People genuinely connect with the honesty in her lyrics as well as on stage. The upcoming visuals for the tour are extraordinary, and she's a fantastic dancer—she trained for a long time as a dancer."
LM: "She's performing in massive venues, but she'll still talk about personal stuff that feels like she’s speaking directly to you."
What's she like to work with?
TL: "She's a dream to work with and everyone at the label adores her. She's very down-to-earth, and she'll drop in at the office without any fanfare. She's endeared herself to every department within the company, both in the UK and abroad. Recently, we had a fan listening event in 14 countries."
LM: "It was like hosting our own little Eurovision event!"
TL: "The most moving part was that some fans went to great lengths to participate. For instance, the Syrian fan group organized their wi-fi and power to join the event. They're not sponsors or partners; it's because they genuinely love Aurora and want to be part of this community."
How did you organize that livestream event?
LM: "We worked with Livestreaming company Groovy Gecko for the release party and partnered with them to connect the dots and get the livestreams together seamlessly."
Fact: *Aurora’s monthly Spotify numbers have now reached 13.5 million with 'Runaway' as her most popular track with 890m streams and counting. Her appeal is one of a kind, crafted over years of dedicated work and genuine fan engagement. *
The song 'Runaway' has played a crucial role in launching Aurora's career, with its rivers of emotive power coursing through the hearts of millions. Its continued influence on fans and fellow artists alike has ensured its place as a central part of Aurora's repertoire and legacy.
TL: "Runaway was like an accelerator to her career. It's important to remember that the song had been out for five or six years before it gained widespread attention due to relatable lyrics like, 'I was running far away/Would I run off the world someday?' The magnetic appeal of Aurora's music stems from her talent as a poet and storyteller, touching hearts around the world.**
LM: "Runaway has been important throughout the years, and fans continue to connect with its message. Aurora's music resonated with Billie Eilish, who named her as one of her initial inspirations when her album was released recently."
Where does the What Happened To The Heart? campaign go from here?
TL: "What's so interesting about this record is that we believe there's a long way to go in terms of people discovering and connecting with it in the same way they've adopted her other records. She's embarking on a major global tour, selling over 250,000 tickets in various parts of the world.
"People often ask, 'What was the moment with Aurora?' But her story has been a succession of powerful moments, and the magic has been far from exhausted.**
LM: "Aurora is a mix of the digital and the real world. She's connected to her fans on various platforms, including TikTok and Discord, and her fans follow her to wherever she goes. The magic continues, and the journey carries on."
- The latest album by Aurora, What Happened To The Heart?, showcases her continued growth as an artist, with strong visuals and a powerful message resonating in pop-culture, attracting fan groups worldwide and reaching the UK Top 10.
- Aurora's unique appeal, best demonstrated by her critically acclaimed song 'Runaway', with over 890 million streams on Spotify, has earned her recognition from fellow artists, including Billie Eilish, placing her as a significant figure in entertainment and pop-culture.
