What makes us human

By Michelle Anne P. Soliman, Reporter

Album Review
The Gods We Can Touch
Aurora
Decca Records

THE PURSUIT for perfection, the constant doubt of one’s inner beauty, and worthiness to be loved are some of the introspections that Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora Aksnes sings about in her new album.

In the two years since the release of her last album in 2019, Ms. Aksnes has had stint on Disney’s Frozen 2 as the voice of the North Wind, and joined Idina Menzel and nine other singers in a live performance of “Into the Unknown” at the 92^nd Academy Awards in 2020. In 2021, her 2015 single “Runaway” re-entered the music charts after going viral on TikTok.

On Jan. 21, Ms. Aksnes released her third studio album, The Gods We Can Touch.

In the album, Ms. Aksnes references Greek gods and goddess as perfect creatures and shows the listener that with their flaws, even gods are relatively human.

“They were more human, more relatable, almost touchable. Most importantly, they had flaws,” Ms. Aksnes wrote in the album’s storyline on Spotify. “This album is a celebration of all the things we should never be ashamed of; they are what make us human.”

While maintaining her signature ethereal and electropop sound, Ms. Aksnes experiments with other musical styles in specific tracks.

Unlike her previous albums — Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) from 2018 and A Different Kind of Human (Step 2) from 2019 — which have songs with sexual and political themes and social issues, The Gods We Can Touch is more introspective, with songs about self-love, self-worth, appreciating your uniqueness, and accepting your flaws.

The 15-track album begins with “The Forbidden Fruits of Eden” with Ms. Aksnes’ signature high-pitched and icy harmonies. The 40-second intro track starts the album with a lightweight mood, as if you are listening to the musical score in a fantasy film’s opening scene.

The mood abruptly shifts to mysterious with the guitar plucking introduction to “Everything Matters” (featuring French singer Pomme). In this track, Ms. Aksnes sings of how simple things are great miracles.

In “Giving in to the Love,” he album’s third single takes inspiration from Prometheus, the god of fire, who sculpted humans. It is in this track where she sings of self-appreciation: “If I’ll be somebody, I’ll never let my skin decide it for me. I never had the world, so why change for it?” The song has a certain 1990s grunge rock sound.

It is followed by the dance tune “Cure for Me,” which carries a similar theme from the previous song with the repeated chorus line: “I don’t need a cure for me,” followed by an infectious circus theme sample.

The album’s first single and slow dance ballad, “Exist for Love,” is a break from the album’s first upbeat tracks. Serving as an ode to the goddess of love Aphrodite in the music video, Ms. Aksnes sings: “I can’t imagine how it is to be forbidden from loving, ‘cause when you walked into my life, I could feel my life begin.”

The second half of the album offers diverse musical styles — something different from the 25-year-old singer’s previous records.

“A Temporary High” (this writer’s personal favorite) takes the listener back to the 1980s pop sound with the track’s heavy use of synthesizers and danceable melody.

It is followed by “Artemis,” inspired by the story of the goddess of wild animals, vegetation, chastity, and childbirth. This one has a jazzy musical arrangement with violin and cello instrumentals.

The final three tracks — the hard-hitting folk-rock piece “Blood in the Wine,” the easy-listening “This Could be a Dream,” and the folk sounds and harmonies in “A Little Place Called the Moon” — succeed each other like a film soundtrack, narrating a story’s climax to its happy ending. The music can inspire the listener to imagine the landscapes and townsfolk in a fictional world.

Ms. Aksnes’ exploration of other musical styles is a bold move that only adds to her versatility. She also maintains the lyrical meaningful songwriting she is known for. And the album illustrates the importance of listening to songs in the order that the artist intends them to be heard — here they narrate a story from creation to self-discovery. Ms. Aksnes proves that being eccentric can be fun too.

To listen to The Gods We Can Touch and for more information, visit https://www.aurora-music.com/.