Aurora

Music Park: Aurora @ 9:30 Club — 10/31/16

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Aurora 930 31 Aurora performs at the 9:30 Club on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Aurora Aksnes was fighting a cold. But she was feeling scrappy, and her voice sounded strong, so she barreled ahead at the 9:30 Club Monday night.

At one point, the petite but determined Norwegian songstress shook her fist in defiance, as if to rally against her cold although she was truly rallying against emotional distress, as depicted in many of the songs from her debut album, All of My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, released by Glassnote Records earlier this year.

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Don’t Miss: Dan Croll @ 9:30 Club, 10/31/16

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Dan Croll (Photo courtesy Communion Music)

Dan Croll likes things to be a little off-center, much like Norwegian siren Aurora, for whom he is opening at the 9:30 Club on Monday. (Aurora? Catch up with her in our preview of her show!)

The UK electronic folk artist sings in an agreeable manner, but he enjoys putting a bit of an uncomfortable twist on his work, such as in the video for his latest single “Swim,” released in August.

Watch the official music video for “Swim” by Dan Croll on YouTube, and see what I mean:

Dan is an intriguing musician to watch, which is what makes it compulsive to come out early and see him at the 9:30 Club on Monday, Oct. 31. “Swim” is the first single from his upcoming second album, due in 2017 via Communion Music. Judging from the new song, Dan may be angling for more of an R&B sound than he employed in his debut album Sweet Disarray in 2014, but he’s always voiced admiration for approaching pop music from different angles.

Show up early for Dan Croll! Tickets are available online.

Dan Croll
Opening for Aurora
9:30 Club
Monday, Oct. 31
Doors @7pm
$20
All ages

Don’t Miss: Aurora @ 9:30 Club, 10/31/16

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Aurora Aksnes performs at U Street Music Hall on April 21, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Earlier this year, petite Aurora Aksnes gathered a large crowd into booming U Street Music Hall for a show packed with big ideas.

This time around, Aurora, the sensational Norwegian singer-songwriter, is performing at an appropriately larger venue, where the stage at the 9:30 Club is sure to provide a better platform for her artistic expression and the accompanying concert hall a better space for large crowds.

So come out on Monday, Oct. 31, to see Aurora as she sings, bounces, dances, and pantomimes along to the darkly glorious songs of her debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, released in March by Decca Records and Glassnote.

Following songs like “Runaway,” “Half the World Away” (an Oasis cover!), “Conqueror,” and others, Aurora released a sixth single, “I Went Too Far,” from the new album. You know an album has legs when it can support six singles!

Watch the official music video for “I Went Too Far” by Aurora on YouTube:

Parklife DC reviewed Aurora at U Street Music Hall on April 21. (Revisit our full review and pictures here.) After seeing her, I said, “Although petite in size, the Norwegian folk popstar, who goes by only her first name, has a big voice that fits her ambitious songs of flight or fight. She also has a habit of physically moving where her music takes her. This somewhat off-kilter acting out of her own words and melodies might readily draw some comparisons to her fellow Scandinavian artist Bjork.”

I added, “Aurora’s folk pop is as spritely as she is, but it does carry dark overtones of struggling to find yourself, to be free, or to fight.”

You’ll want to be free for this show on Monday! Tickets are available online.

Aurora
w/ Dan Croll
9:30 Club
Monday, Oct. 31, 2016
Doors @7pm
$20
All ages

Music Park: AURORA @ U Street Music Hall — 4/21/16

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Aurora Aksnes 10 Aurora performs live at U Street Music Hall on Thursday, April 21. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Aurora Aksnes is a powerfully expressive performer.

Although petite in size, the Norwegian folk popstar, who goes by only her first name, has a big voice that fits her ambitious songs of flight or fight. She also has a habit of physically moving where her music takes her. This somewhat off-kilter acting out of her own words and melodies might readily draw some comparisons to her fellow Scandinavian artist Bjork.

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Don’t Miss: Aurora @ U Street Music Hall, 4/21/16

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Aurora (Photo courtesy Glassnote Records)

Norwegian singer Aurora Aksnes has been taking the US airwaves by storm with the release of her debut full-length album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (released March 11 via Decca Records), and her subsequent television appearances leading up to a North American tour that stops at U Street Music Hall on Thursday, April 21.

To no one’s surprise, our local show has sold out! And those who have tickets will enjoy the 19-year-old Aurora’s lyrically rich art-pop sensibilities. She likes to sing in metaphors relating to battles with songs like “Conquerer” and “Warrior” and often takes a look at the dark side of the human condition with songs like “Running with the Wolves,” a song of escape, and “Murder Song (5,4,3,2,1),” a story of a mercy killing perhaps but ultimately about loss.

Ultimately, where Aurora makes her mark, however, is with her voice, unique in its haunting timber.

Watch the official music video for “Conquerer” by Aurora on YouTube:

Said Aurora in press notes on the song, “I know that I’m very sensitive. In many ways, I’m weak. But if you’re weak, you’re also very strong. Because you need to work a bit harder to survive as well… You have to find the conqueror in yourself at first, I think. That’s what I think about in the song. It’s just a person who hasn’t realized that yet. That person is still trying to find the conqueror in someone else. You have to find the conqueror in yourself to land on your own feet. You are the only one you need to survive. Then other people will make your life a good life as well. It’s important to be strong in yourself.”

Singer/songwriter Tor Miller from New York opens for Aurora. The show is sold out.

Aurora
w/ Tor Miller
U Street Music Hall
Thursday, April 21
Doors @7pm
$15
All ages