6/10
Having shot to fame for her cutesy cover of Oasis’ “Half The World Away” for the John Lewis ad a coupla Christmases ago, Norwegian songstress Aurora Aksnes – stage name in caps – serves up another accomplished LP of icy Nordic pop, tinged with a youthful brightness.
On her second album, AURORA sets out her stall between the work of two other Nordic musical icons. The ethereal, hypnotic vocals and fastidious layers of sound recall the region’s innovator-in-chief, Björk, while her penchant for big, brain-filling melodies echoes the sensibility of pop maven Robyn.
The record’s lead single, “Queendom”, sees her match an infectiously incantory chorus with a tapestry of intricate beats. On “All is Soft Inside”, she makes densely packed electronica feel totally accessible.
But even when the balance isn’t spot on (tracks at the kookier end of the spectrum can feel a bit Björk-lite), Aksnes’s heavenly voice carries all her songs somewhere special.
Dan Ashcroft
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