AURORA has released new single ‘The Seed’ and announced details of her album ‘A Different Kind Of Human – Step Two’. Check out our interview with the singer below.

The follow-up to last year’s acclaimed ‘Infections Of A Different Kind – Step One‘, the Norwegian singer-songwriter’s third album will arrive in June and takes on a further political tone.

“I would say that this album has an even wider perspective than ‘Step One’ had,” AURORA told NME. “It’s more interior, dealing with our inner processes. ‘Step Two’ is quite broad and wide, and my favourite thing about it is that it’s quite schizophrenic. I’m quite an emotional person with many moods. I never know how I might feel on any given day and the album is like that too: it’s quite angry, it’s quite happy, hopeful, sad and playful too.”


So what’s got AURORA so angry?

“It’s a very specific type of anger,” she replied. “It’s not a blind anger that makes you do the wrong things. It’s not that type of anger that’s pointed at everything and nothing at the same time. It’s very clear and directed towards things that you want to change – in the environment, on the planet and with politics. It’s more like a fire that keeps you awake and keeps you on point and ready to use your power for something important. More and more, I miss that kind of fire and anger.

“We have a lot of power, and we don’t realise the power that we have until we’re actually truly angry about something.”

She continued: “My new single ‘The Seed’ is quite angry and native in the old, ancient human emotional kind of way. It’s about the environment. It feels refreshing to get that out.”

AURORA is also the only guest vocalist on the upcoming album from The Chemical Brothers, ‘No Geography‘. Not only that, but her profile increased when Billie Eilish hailed her as one of her main inspirations when she first got into music.


“When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‘Runaway’ music video,” she told Vanity Fair. “Something inside me clicked, like, that is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.”

Read the rest of our interview with AURORA below, where she talks the rise of protest among her generation, working with The Chemical Brothers, and how she’s already working on another new album.

Do you feel that protest works or do you want to see a more individual type of change?

“I feel that protest is working in one way. I’m getting tired of people saying that we don’t understand things completely and issues aren’t that simple, but we don’t do what we do because we think that the answer is simple. We know that in each of our hearts and hands is power, and that if we join them together, it can be quite massive. I feel very in touch with our generation now because I feel that we’ve been quite disconnected. I feel very good about how people are reacting right now.”

Where does the album take your sound from ‘Step 1’?

“It’s more like my first album in that it has a lot of different soundscapes and different moods. Everyone will be able to find a song they like because it’s very diverse. On some songs more than others I’m exploring myself as a producer. The whole album has been made by me and some of my friends, but mostly by my drummer and I in a tiny room with one window. I like to use field recordings and a lot of vocals because I want to use my voice in as many ways as possible. Overall it’s quite explosive I would say. I’m in a phase where I want to scream, shout and cry. I don’t feel like being quiet.”

Your sound does seem to be growing quite untethered, while other artists in your position might make things a little more polished and commercial.

“It’s always about what I want. On ‘Step 1’ I wanted to make a gift to myself; one album that was completely how I felt inside. I want it to feel as liberating as possible.”

Will there be a ‘Step 3’?

“I’m already working on my next album, and it’s halfway done. No one has heard it yet. Not even my manager. I work very quickly. The day I’m done with one album, I immediately know the title of the next one and I begin. But there might be a ‘Step 3’ in between, because the next album goes quite far – it goes beyond anything I’ve ever done before. It’s extremely exciting.”

How was it to be the only guest vocalist on the new Chemical Brothers album?

“I adore Chemical Brothers. I don’t really listen to music at all, apart from Enya, Chemical Brothers, Leonard Cohen and maybe some heavy metal. I got to listen to the album with Tom Rowan and even slept in his attic because I forgot to book a hotel. It was really wonderful. I listened to the tracks and knew right away so wrote the melody and lyrics at the airport where I was stuck for three hours. Then Tom just took care of his favourite parts and that’s how it happened.”

Billie Eilish is blowing up at the moment. She’s said how you were one of the artists to first inspire her to pursue her music. What does that mean to you?

“I think the world needs more artists who just do what they want. She uses her voice is such a cool way. I’m also a big fan of her brother Finneas O’Connell and the way he produces lo-fi percussion. I will be listening to her more because she must be doing something right. The world seems to adore her right now because she’s really cool.”

‘A Different Kind Of Human’ will be released on June 7. Pre-order it here and see the tracklist below.

‘The River’

‘Animal’

‘Dance On The Moon’

‘Daydreamer’

‘Hunger’

‘Soulless Creature’

‘In Bottles’

‘A Different Kind of Human’

‘Mothership’

‘Apple Tree’

‘The Seed’