Aurora – What Happened to the Heart? Review

There was a subtle optimism running through the previous Aurora release, The Gods We Can Touch. The Norwegian singer found herself in the company of divine experiences which have now crashed and burned. Aurora has a chance to move on. Next steps are agony and for those who have taken them, or even considered them, the risk which comes can be daunting. What Happened to the Heart? holds out for a bright future but charts the all too bleak reality. Echo Of My Shadow opens with those clear thoughts. Comfort can be found in stagnation but what we lose in affection for ourselves, our work and our loved ones is not worth the safety of complacency. What Happened to the Heart? is all about the death of passion. Now, more than ever, it feels like misery reigns. Aurora tries to fight against it with an exceptional new album. 

Isolated from instrumental additions on this first track gives Aurora the scope needed for a wider, meaningful look at desire. Every artist gunning for a wider share in pop music convinces listeners they hold the key to unlocking grief or guilt. Few truly do. To Be Alright is as plain in this notion as it can be not because the solution is simple but for it to leave its mark it must sound reassuring and open. The influence of Kate Bush still dominates the genre. What Happened to the Heart? certainly has the strength to it away from the Hounds of Love influence, it just takes a while to get there. Reflective double bill Your Blood and The Conflict of the Mind are lyrical achievements for Aurora. Where What Happened to the Heart? lacks an obvious lead single hit, it makes up it with contemplative wonders like these early album tracks.  

Aurora, like the best of those folk-influenced artists at work in wider genres, has a reliable vocal range. The changes heard over Some Type of Skin to The Essence hear the major change she has put her music and her listeners through. Instruments are not her focus. Sharp mixing may have made The Gods We Can Touch a stellar experience but now Aurora focuses on the vocal intensity, the rich layering which comes from those cathartic spots. When the Dark Dresses Lightly is the moment of clarity. Nordic influences and a feverish need to connect with cultural roots and influences guide Aurora to one of her very best – a perfect blur of creeping percussion and a lyrical knack for finding your place in the world. An all-too-common message expounded well by few. 

With a lack of genuine and generous experience in music made to console, it is refreshing to hear both Aurora and Charli XCX drop contemplative albums on the same day. Fundamentally different styles and shaped in unique ways but the end goal, the ability to offer an act of sincerity, is reached. Disassociation is the new norm and those in touch with their audience know it. Aurora does. What Happened to the Heart? is an often shocking exploration. An album filled with occasions where Aurora assesses what we value as worthwhile experiences. Attempt after attempt at finding something worth caring about. A Soul with No King depends on the melodic structure found in Aurora’s voice. It works wonders for those who find themselves with passion and nowhere to preserve it. 

Lack of change is the real horror. Aurora works through it, coming out with some of her strongest material to date. A richly laden experience filled with those compartmentalised struggles against the unknown and a hope to fill the void with life. Misguided and poorly placed intentions come apart, as they do for most of the pop-oriented albums of the last few years. But with Aurora, there is a sincerity and difference in the tones taken. There is an energetic burst from Do You Feel? which introduces the genuine nature found on this Aurora latest. Another chance to connect with listeners and have no shortage of worries to write of. Aurora hits out with an essential focus which comes through the latter half of What Happened to the Heart?, a run of form quite unlike anything from the indietronica genre this year. But Aurora is of a unique quality, a classy showcase here is proof enough. Starvation will linger as one of her best tracks, an Underworld-like, Born Slippy burst of rage which tees up the rest of the album Aurora is of a unique quality, a classy showcase on her fifth studio album is proof enough.