All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend by AURORA
In her first full-length offering, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, Aurora Aksnes invites listeners into a world that feels suspended between the dreamy and the dark—sort of like if Björk, Enya, and an ancient Nordic spirit threw a dinner party, but with synths. Aurora’s sound is a peculiar hybrid of folktronica and ethereal pop, but don’t let the celestial vibes fool you: there’s plenty of emotional weight to balance out the fairy dust.
Musically, this album is a landscape of contrasts. Tracks like “Runaway” and “Running with the Wolves” swirl together airy vocals, frosty synths, and hauntingly delicate percussion that evoke the Norwegian wilderness where Aurora spent her childhood. It’s cinematic, like you’ve wandered into a Disney movie that got lost on its way to the happy ending. At its core, All My Demons thrives on atmosphere: icy, intimate, and a little otherworldly. But then you get to songs like “Conqueror,” where Aurora pulls you out of the mist with pounding drums and an anthemic chorus that’s more pop punch than ambient hum.
Aurora co-produced several of the tracks, and her hands-on approach shows. The album is layered, but never feels overproduced. Even in the darker tracks like “Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)”—a chilling ballad about mercy killing—there’s a restraint that lets the story breathe, using soft piano and synth to underscore rather than overwhelm. It’s this fine line between drama and subtlety that Aurora walks so effortlessly throughout the album.
If you’re here for surface-level lyrics about partying, look elsewhere. Aurora’s lyrics dive deep into emotional and existential terrain, examining life, death, nature, and inner turmoil with the wide-eyed wonder of someone who seems both much younger and much older than her 19 years. “Winter Bird” is a poetic nod to the isolation and harsh beauty of nature, while “Through the Eyes of a Child” is a tender ballad reflecting on innocence and the jadedness of adulthood. Aurora is unapologetically mystical in her themes, sometimes bordering on cryptic, but there’s a sincerity that makes even the more obscure metaphors feel profound.
The strongest moments come when Aurora pairs her introspective lyrics with equally haunting soundscapes. “Under the Water” and “Black Water Lilies” take on themes of death and drowning, both literal and metaphorical. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be emotionally submerged while staring up at the surface, these songs capture that sensation perfectly.
“Runaway” and “Conqueror” are the big showpieces here, and for good reason. “Runaway,” written when Aurora was just 12 (because apparently being a musical prodigy is a thing), is a gorgeous blend of folktronica and Nordic melancholy. Meanwhile, “Conqueror” throws a much-needed burst of energy into the mix with its triumphant, fist-pumping chorus.
But some of the quieter tracks deserve just as much love. “Winter Bird” is a standout with its new-age folk charm, and “Murder Song” will make the hairs on your neck stand up—though maybe don’t listen to it alone in the dark unless you like that sort of thing.
There’s a distinct thematic thread running through All My Demons, but the pacing can feel like a bit of a rollercoaster. The album swings between subdued, meditative tracks and more upbeat, pop-inflected moments. While this variety keeps things from feeling monotonous, it can also leave you wondering if you’re supposed to cry into your pillow or start a revolution by track three. Still, it holds together as a cohesive body of work thanks to Aurora’s unwavering aesthetic—otherworldly, but grounded in raw emotion.
Aurora’s music feels intensely personal, like a diary written in the middle of the night after a particularly soul-shaking dream. Listening to it, you might find yourself wandering through your own emotional forests, discovering demons you didn’t know were lurking around. And yet, there’s an optimism here too, a belief that these demons can, in fact, be greeted as friends. It’s this delicate dance between darkness and light that makes the album resonate on a deeper level.
All My Demons is for anyone who likes their pop with a side of existentialism. If you’re into moody synths, introspective lyrics, and artists who seem like they might actually be woodland fairies, this album will be your new best friend. Fans of Florence Welch, Björk, and other ethereal, genre-blurring artists will find much to love here. However, if your idea of a good time is something a little more straightforward, you might feel like you’ve wandered too far into the woods.
