My favourite live moment of 2015 was when I fell in love with Aurora at Where’s The Music festival in Sweden in February. I hadn’t heard of her before, but I went on to spend the rest of the year telling everyone how brilliant she was (including Aurora herself… I couldn’t help going up to her at The Great Escape). Eventually she gained exposure and her first UK hit when she was chosen to record the song for this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert, Half the World Away. It’s a nice wintery tune, but neither this nor any of her singles so far have quite conveyed the magic and charm of her stage performance. I’m hoping that will change in 2016.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_HlPboLRL8]
Aurora is a 19-year-old singer from Norway, signed to a joint deal with Universal label Decca and indie label Glassnote. Those two labels represent the two different directions she could take, as a folksy darling of Radio 2 or an alternative artist at home on Radio 1’s evening shows. If she can find a happy medium, she could reach both those audiences and open doors to more mainstream opportunities too. One of her songs, Conqueror, is featured on the FIFA 2016 soundtrack, and I think this catchy, energetic track would be a good (and likely) choice for her next release. If so, the video will not be complete without Aurora’s excellent dancing. The new single will be released in January, the same month I’ll be seeing her live for the fourth time at Eurosonic festival, and hopefully hearing some new songs from her album All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, out in March.
Click here to find out more about This Must Be Pop’s Stars of 2016 and come back on 18th December to vote for the artists you think, and hope, will be the biggest stars of 2016. The results will be announced in the Future Pop mailer on 4th January.