Aurora: ‘We fear activists more than the world dying or war’

Aurora Aksnes is fully aware of her role as both a musician and an activist. A decade ago, this was simply a trendy multi-hyphenate title seen on social media profiles. Today, the context is different. She describes the current cultural moment as a kind of collective decline, when public political expression feels unfashionable or even suspect.

“People are more afraid of activists than of the world dying or of war,” she says with genuine bewilderment. “Isn’t that curious?” She pauses and wrinkles her nose, but this is no rhetorical question – Aurora is deeply curious.

She explains that the identity of the speaker significantly affects public reception. Take Bob Vylan’s call for an end to the Israeli military, for instance. Generally, people accept when a young white woman speaks about Palestine, but a Black man receives a very different reaction.

“It’s heartbreaking how scared people are to connect with someone standing against the great forces of the world. It weakens us,” Aurora continues. Following Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, where frontman Bobby Vylan chanted “Death to the IDF,” they were dropped by their agent and their US tour cancelled. The general public and fellow artists, however, showed support.

In the Independent office in London, the 29-year-old Norwegian appears pale, bright, and otherworldly. Her music reflects the elemental sensibility of Florence Welch, the inventive spirit of early Grimes, and her own ethereal presence.

“To avoid using your voice simply because it’s uncomfortable? That’s deeply sad to me, because it denies a vital part of your humanity,” she says.

Aurora is in London to promote her charity show at Union Chapel on 10 December for War Child, divided into Dusk, exploring activism and humanity, and Dawn, lifting audiences into hope and renewal.

She stresses, “Numbness is the greatest enemy. Social media dulls the mind.” The juxtaposition of real war footage with makeup tutorials highlights this disconnect.

She also emphasises grounding statistics in reality. “War Child has aided 180,000 children in Palestine. That is the size of my entire city. That’s a lot of lives.”

Aurora still resides in Bergen, Norway. Her early influences include Leonard Cohen, Enya and Nina Simone. “Do it right, and your voice lasts forever. It’s a shame if it only speaks trivialities.”

Excited to return home, she looks forward to nurturing a new phase of creativity with a broken piano in her studio. “I’m eager to see what it becomes.”

Source- Total Entertainment.UK

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