AURORA is quite a big name in alt-pop, one known for her ethereal vocals and otherworldly soundscapes. I definitely saw her name pop up a lot with her viral tracks Runaway and Cure For Me, but I hate to form an impression of an artist solely by their biggest hits, so I let the impression stay undecided until I could spin a full record of hers.
All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend is her debut album, and a superb one at that. With just twelve songs, she set up a very unique and distinct sound to associate her name to, and make a place for herself in the alt-pop scene. Granted, the most outstanding trait of her music is definitely her voice, but I hope that the instrumentation never gets overshadowed by it.
Her voice has this sharpness to it, yet rests within this vocal realm characterized by a sense of innocence and wonder, and the expressiveness of her voice is by far the most impressive feat of hers. There is this pristine kind of cleanliness and clarity in her voice that few can achieve, much less in her range, and this in part contributes to the ethereal-ness to her singing, simply because it doesn't sound real. Moments like the vocal riffing at the end of Runaway and the chorus of I Went Too Far have this angelic feeling to it.
Writing wise, there are some pretty good moments and melodies throughout the record. Most of the tracks feature catchy hooks and great melodies that more than suffice for the pop side of her music, and though some of the tracks are less pop-leaning, they more or less all seem well written and genuine. In fact, some of her songs are great standouts for the less conventional creative choices and particularly alternative-sounding moments. I have to applaud her for her ability to make songwriting choices that usually end up sounding pretentious pretty enjoyable, like focusing on the song title in the chorus of Warrior or using lyrical gimmicks like counting in Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1).
The layering and instrumentation in this record is what I think really sells the experience. There is a solid balance of simple and complex composition that lends a lot of dynamicism to this record, especially with the synthwork and vocal harmonies repeatedly used throughout the record to add to the otherworldliness of the record. At the end of the day, I won't remember most of the lyrics and melodies, but the atmosphere and soundscape of this record will remain clear as day in my mind. It really is an out-of-body experience soaking in the carefully crafted sonic textures of this record.
I didn't care much for the additions in the deluxe, I was hoping for more original songs but I guess it doesn't matter too much because I wasn't there for it's release anyways. I guess it is a slight bad habit of mine to downplay any non-original and derivative songs, but I don't find it getting in my way too much. It's probably cool to hear her covers or remixes if you enjoy the songs being covered or just want more of her voice, but the main twelve tracks are plenty beautiful enough.
All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend exceeded my expectations and legitimately did surprise me for an alt-pop record. I haven't found a good pop record that was more than just the hit songs in a long while, and also had some semblance of identity, so I had good reasons to enjoy it thoroughly. It is rare for me to like a pop record as a whole, so this definitely deserves talking about.
Rating: 8/10