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Guest DJ: AURORA On Her Love Of Heavy Metal And Leonard Cohen

Aurora Aksanes is a 20 year old singer from Norway who is small but with a big heart.
Courtesy of the artist.
Aurora Aksanes is a 20 year old singer from Norway who is small but with a big heart.

I first saw AURORA in a small club in New York City three years ago. She was just 17 years old, but her performance was mesmerizing. Her frail, blonde figure mirrored her enchanting voice and words. The young singer from Norway put out a dramatic and beautiful record earlier this year called All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, AURORA — now 20 years old — plays DJ, choosing songs that inform her life and music. Some mirror the emotions in her own music, like Leonard Cohen, Enya and the mechanical, organic music of Wintergatan. She also surprised us by showing her love for metal music, including Mastodon.

We had an emotional conversation. AURORA is all about touching hearts and expressing her feelings through song. Below are the songs she picked and some edited quotes from the interview, though it's best to give a listen to the full show so you can fall in love with her music and her passion for performing and connecting with fans.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.