AURORA announces fourth studio album, What Happened To The Heart?

In April 2022, AURORA read a letter that changed her life. It was co-written by indigenous activists, titled We Are the Earth, and called for a revolution: a collective response to global warming – to “heal the land”. They described being connected to the land “through our hearts”, and the earth as “the heart that pulsates within us.” The letter led AURORA to consider a question: what happened to the heart? And she began studying books on human anatomy, wanting to understand when and why Western culture lost touch with the deeper purpose of our most vital organ.

AURORA began writing the album whilst on tour for her 2022 release, The Gods We Can Touch, with only one rule: she could only write in unsafe spaces, to build her armour. That meant no forests, where Aurora had spent much of her childhood in Bergen, Norway. Travelling over the word also gave her the chance to meet with women she describes as modern-day philosophers, and who inspired her with their feminine power. In particular, three female tribe leaders in Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. “There is wisdom in their indigenous values. These women live in the modern world just like us, but they still choose to live with kindness.”

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Describing the album as the “most personal and cathartic album” she has ever written. AURORA adds: “Though its precise function and anatomy were not clearly understood, the heart was believed to be the centre of the soul. Of intuition. Of emotion and intention. Until we decided these were qualifications of the mind. Emotion overpowered by logic. And with the world being so corrupted by money, power and selfishness you cannot help but ask yourself - what happened to the heart?”

Alongside this, she has revealed plans for her eleven-date headline UK & Europe arena tour in September and October 2024, including a night at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 2 October.