Aurora, “The Gods We Can Touch.”

Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora Aksnes had the concept for her new album, The Gods We Can Touch, within days of finishing its predecessor. When we spoke to her in 2019, she even gave us a clue: “It’s just about the fact that everything matters—those two words,” she said. The song “Everything Matters” follows a short interlude to kick off The Gods We Can Touch.

The song, and statement, are a great equalizer for Aurora. The album uses Greek mythology to say that not even gods are perfect, and that our imperfections, which make us human, are nothing to be ashamed about. The thematic concept—Aurora meets a different Greek god on most of the album’s 15 tracks (even if she doesn’t address them by name)—also closes a loop.

On 2018’s Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) she looked inward on herself and encouraged others to do the same. On 2019’s A Different Kind of Human (Step 2), she focused her energy outward and took stances against the cruel and misguided intentions of humankind, which is often at war with nature and itself. She looks upward and challenges how we use supreme beings to shame each other.

Following a short intro track that uses no words—just vocalizations—the album begins in earnest with the aforementioned “Everything Matters.” An organic acoustic guitar melody starts the track before it opens up into a more expansive number. An ominous-sounding classical piano progression ends up carrying the song, which features French vocals by artist Pomme.

“Giving In To The Love” is a more bombastic number, driven by power-pop tom-tom strikes, a drum machine and echoey synths.

“I’m tired of the rules and your corrections/ I want to live my life, be all of its pages/ And underline that I am not an angel,” Aurora sings in her distinct angelic and icy timbre.

“Cure For Me” is surprisingly a ’90s-era Madonna-esque club banger. Aurora has described it as being inspired by Panacea, the Greek goddess of remedy. In the artist’s case, the song is about breaking free from various expectations. “No, I don’t need a cure for me,” she repeats time and time again. Shuffling ballad “You Keep Me Crawling” could just as easily be directed at the same person/god/crowd as its predecessor, with Aurora clearly having some stuff to get off her chest.

“Exist For Love” has a surprising retro mood, closer to Brill Building pop or doo-wop with acoustic guitar fingerpicking and backing harmonies, which also provides more diversity in song composition compared to past Aurora albums.

The ethereal “Heathens” retreats to Aurora’s comfort zone both in terms of sonics and lyricism. Reportedly, it’s about Persephone, goddess of the underworld.

“We fell from sky with grace/ And landed in her soft and warm embrace,” Aurora sings. “That is why we live like heathens/ Stealing from the trees of Eden/ Living in the arms of freedom/ And everything we touch is evil.” Besides the sharp-tongued lyrical take, the song offers a killer drum fill and breakdown just as you think it’s over. It’s another unexpected stylistic embellishment.

“Heathens” leads right into “The Innocent,” which again diverges from a sonically consistent throughline. This song rides atop a repeating piano melody that feels inspired by Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman,” broken up by a thumping chorus with plucked strings and other effects.

The rest of the album breezes by. Aurora reintroduces themes from previous albums that focused more on nature.

On “Exhale Inhale,” for example, she sings of pollution in the air and imagery of birds flying. The song has an effective dual vocal, even if Aurora sings both parts. “Temporary High” and “A Dangerous Thing” are other thumpers and are the closest the album comes to rock tracks. Interestingly, her singing on the former cut recalls The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan.

The seductive, Spanish-sounding “Artemis” is highlighted by the squeezebox flourishes of bandoneon player Per Arne Glorvigen. The album lands gracefully with “This Could Be A Dream,” which highlights Aurora’s voice amid balladic piano playing and orchestral strings, and the pillowy, breezy, “A Little Place Called The Moon,” which has just a couple of vocal lines that don’t appear until the very end of the song.

Although Aurora hasn’t released an album in the last couple of years, she’s gotten more mainstream attention than ever before with her contribution to “Frozen 2,” “Into The Unknown” (including a performance at the 2020 Oscars) and more recently when older song “Runaway” took off as a surprise viral hit on TikTok. She even postponed the album’s release so it wouldn’t interfere with her newfound fame. The Gods We Can Touch is full of more unique atmospheres for fans new and old alike to float on.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.