Aurora Shares New Album 'What Happened To The Heart?'

Norwegian alt-pop artist AURORA’s much anticipated fourth studio album What Happened To The Heart? is out now via Glassnote/Decca/Petroleum Records. 

AURORA details of the new single, “Starvation touches on the very heart of the album. The root of the problem the world is in. Our souls are starving, and therefore I think it’s hard for people to truly connect with the world. Our food makes us sick. The news makes us worried, but passive. Our work makes us uninspired by life. We bully strangers on the internet. And we connect to other humans mostly through that very same medium. We can see people getting killed on our phones while we go on about our day. Something is seriously wrong.”

Leading up to the release, she has shared songs “Your Blood,” “The Conflict of the Mind” and “Some Type of Skin” from the LP, the latter of which was called “a simultaneously euphoric and melancholic earworm” by DIY, while Clashpraised “it dazzles with its folkloric light.” The new music continues to receive attention from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 and many more. 

Following a run of festival performances this summer, AURORA will embark on a fall headline tour What Happened To The Earth? Part 1 in support of the new music across the U.K. and Europe consisting of eleven dates, featuring sold-out shows in London, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin. 

In addition to her U.K./Europe tour, AURORA will head to North America for the What Happened To The Earth? Part 2 tour with stops in nine cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York and more. Tickets and more information can be found here, see below for a complete list of dates.

What Happened To The Heart? finds AURORA working alongside various new collaborators—including Ane Brun, Matias Tellez (girl in red, Maisie Peters), Tom Rowlands (Chemical Brothers), Chris Greatti (Yungblud, Blink-182) and Dave Hamelin (Beyonce, King Princess, Zara Larsson) among others—each bringing their own unique styles and depth to the project. Additionally, long-time collaborator Magnus Skylstad, who has been with AURORA since her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, returns to contribute to the album.

AURORA has described What Happened To The Heart? as her “most personal and cathartic album” to date, with each of the 16 tracks on this record tracing its inspiration back to a pivotal moment in April 2022 when the artist was first struck by the profound question, “What happened to the heart?” This query was ignited by her reading of the poignant letter We Are the Earth, a call to arms in the face of global warming. Delving into human anatomy books, AURORA sought to unravel the mystery of when and why Western culture lost touch with the deeper purpose of our most vital organ. Through her music, AURORA examines the loss of spiritual connection in modern society, underscoring the importance of vulnerability and advocating for reunifying the heart with politic and personal growth. 

AURORA’s previous album The Gods We Can Touch (2022) was named one of the U.K.’s Top 10 albums and launched a sold-out U.K. headline tour, over a million album sales and 2.6 billion streams. The following year she released a book under the same name detailing her very intimate creative process and inspirations behind her third studio album, selling over 14,000 copies.

AURORA—WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HEART? TRACK LIST

1. Echo of My Shadow

2. To Be Alright

3. Your Blood

4. The Conflict of the Mind

5. Some Type of Skin

6. The Essence

7. Earthly Delights

8. The Dark Dresses Lightly

9. A Soul with No King
10. Dreams
11. My Name
12. Do You Feel
13. Starvation
14. The Blade
15. My Body is Not Mine
16. Invisible Wounds

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EARTH? PART 1 + 2 TOUR DATES

June 21—Tbilisi Open Air—Tbilisi, Georgia

June 26—National Stadium—Dublin, Ireland

June 26-30—Glastonbury Festival—Pilton, UK

July 5—Roskilde Festival—Roskilde, Denmark

July 6—Down The Rabbit Hole—Ewijk, Netherlands

July 10—Slottsfjell Festival—Tønsberg, Norway

July 12—NOS Alive—Lisbon, Portugal

July 13—Cruilla Festival—Barcelona, Spain

July 18—Ravnedalen—Kristiansand, Norway

July 19—Malakoff Festival—Nordfjordeid, Norway

July 24—Paleo Festival—Nyon, Switzerland

August 7-12—Sziget—Budapest, Hungary

August 17—Summer Sonic—Tokyo, Japan

August 18—Summer Sonic—Osaka, Japan

August 23—LaLaLa Festival—Jakarta, Indonesia

August 25—Summer Sonic—Bangkok, Thailand

August 31—Zurich Open Air—Zurich, Switzerland

September 18—Alcatraz—Milan, Italy

September 20—Gasometer—Vienna, Austria

September 21—Sportovní hala Fortuna—Prague, Czechia

September 23—Tauron Arena—Krakow, Poland

September 24—COS Torwar—Warsaw, Poland

September 25—UFO—Berlin, Germany

September 27—Forest National—Brussels, Belgium

September 28—AFAS Live—Amsterdam, Netherlands

September 30—L’Olympia—Paris, France

October 2—Royal Albert Hall—London, UK

October 4—O2 Apollo—Manchester, UK

October 5—Usher Hall—Edinburgh, UK

October 29—Auditorio Citibanamex—Monterrey, MX

October 31—Auditorio Telmex—Guadalajara, MX

November 2—Palacio De Los Deportes—Mexico City, MX

November 6—Gran Carpa—Bogotá, Colombia

November 8—Costa 21—Lima, Peru

November 10—Movistar Arena—Santiago, Chile

November 13—Movistar Arena—Buenos Aires, Argentina

November 16—Espaço Unimed—São Paulo, Brazil

November 21—Shrine Auditorium—Los Angeles, CA

November 23—Bill Graham Civic Auditorium—San Francisco, CA

November 26—WAMU Theater—Seattle, WA

November 29—Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom—Chicago, IL

December 2—HISTORY—Toronto, ON

December 4—MGM Music Hall at Fenway—Boston, MA

December 5—Beacon Theatre—New York, NY

December 8—The Anthem—Washington, DC

December 9—The Fillmore—Philadelphia, PA

Photo credit: Wanda Marttn

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