All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend

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All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (Official Album Cover).jpg
Studio album by
Aurora
Released11 March 2016 (2016-03-11)
Recorded2015–2016
Genre
Length46:48
Label
Producer
Aurora chronology
Running with the Wolves
(2015) 		All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
(2016) 		Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)
(2018)
Singles from All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
  1. "Runaway"
    Released: 26 February 2015
  2. "Running with the Wolves"
    Released: 10 June 2015
  3. "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)"
    Released: 25 August 2015
  4. "Half the World Away"
    Released: 12 November 2015
  5. "Conqueror"
    Released: 16 February 2016
  6. "I Went Too Far"
    Released: 5 July 2016
  7. "Winter Bird"
    Released: 20 December 2016

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend is the debut studio album by Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora. It was released on 11 March 2016 by Decca Records.[1] It was preceded by the Running with the Wolves extended play, which was released in May 2015. The album includes singles "Runaway", "Running with the Wolves", "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)", "Half the World Away", "Conqueror", "I Went Too Far", and "Winter Bird".

Music and lyrics[]

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend is mainly an electropop,[2][3][4] folk,[5][6] electronic,[7][8] synth-pop,[9][10] and Nordic-folk record,[9] featuring elements of art pop, new age, disco, and trip hop.[11][12][3][13] Lyrical nature themes throughout the record present vivid lyricisms about fantasy, heartache, life, and death.[13][2] The productions of the record has been characterized as "minimalist" with spacy electronics, pulsating beats, yearning modalities, and synth-driven sounds.[5][2][14] Critics compared the record to the music of artists like Björk, Lorde, Lykke Li, Florence Welch, Goldfrapp, and Enya.[11][2][4]

Songs[]

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend opens with the folktronica and synth-pop number "Runaway".[15][14] The song featured echoing water droplet effects, screeches, and transitions.[2] Aurora has stated that the song takes an influence from Nordic folk music and is about "a girl begging to go home – the only place where she belongs, or just the only place left to go".[14][16] The second track, "Conqueror", is a synth-pop and electropop song that features "clattering drum beats building towards a euphoric chorus".[9][17][3] The track has been described to be "poppy" and "playful", musically upbeat with a catchy percussive beat, sparkling synths, and a battle-ready chorus.[18][5] The Scandipop song, "Running with the Wolves"  serves as the third track.[19] Its lyrics is about "the dawning realisation that the answer is to be found in this world, however damaged it might be".[6] The fourth track, "Lucky", is a piano and organ-led ballad with lyricisms about "someone striving against their inner voice telling them to give in".[6] "Winter Bird" is the fifth track which has been described as a new age-tinged folk, Nordic folk, and "Enya-ambient-folk dream" with nature themed lyrics.[12][3][6][2] The sixth track, "I Went Too Far" is a disco-inflected pop and synth-pop ballad.[3][6][20][5] The ballad has been described as "solemn" with a synth-swirling chorus and dance-insistent beat.[2]

"Through the Eyes of a Child" is the seventh track, it has been described as an "icily atmospheric" ballad that "showcases [a] lovely piano and voice".[9][4] The eighth track, "Warrior" has an upbeat uptempo sound that showcases the brighter side of the record with a vulnerable and authentic self-love inspired message.[10][14] The lyrics are about someone "struggling to let love back into their life".[6] Ninth track, "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" is a solemn and shimmering ballad with a "creeping" title that has a smooth and synthy minor.[4][14][19] Lyrically, the ballad speaks about a mercy killing of a protagonist "recounting the story of her own death".[21][2] The tenth track, "Home" has been described as a "chilly, almost robotic" song.[9] Eleventh track "Under the Water" and twelfth track "Black Water Lillies", share the same subject about drowning and death within the lyrics.[9] On "Under the Water", the ballad talks about the romanticization of drowning.[11][8] The closing track of the standard edition, "Black Water Lilies" follows the same theme as "Under The Water".[11] "Black Water Lilies" features extended notes, reverberating piano, and simple beats, about "overcoming forces both in the natural and mental realms".[2][5]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.6/10[22]
Metacritic80/100[23]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[2]
DIY3/5 stars[19]
Entertainment WeeklyA-[11]
Gigwise9/10 stars[3]
The Guardian3/5 stars[13]
The Irish Times3/5 stars[10]
The Line of Best Fit8.5/10[6]
The Music3.5/5 stars[4]
MusicOMH4/5 stars[9]
The Times3/5 stars[12]

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 10 reviews.[23]

Track listing[]

All tracks produced by Odd Martin Skålnes and Magnus Åserud Skylstad, except where noted.

Standard edition[24]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Runaway"
 4:08
2."Conqueror"
  • Aksnes
  • Geir Luedy
  • Odd Martin Skålnes
  • Skylstad
  • Skålnes
  • Skylstad
  • Jeremy Wheatley[b]
3:27
3."Running with the Wolves"
  • Skålnes
  • Rebscher
  • Skylstad
3:14
4."Lucky"
  • Aksnes
  • Skålnes
 4:04
5."Winter Bird"
  • Aksnes
  • Jonathan Wright
 4:07
6."I Went Too Far"
  • Aksnes
  • Skylstad
  • Skålnes
  • Skålnes
  • Skylstad
  • Wheatley[b]
3:27
7."Through the Eyes of a Child"
  • Aksnes
  • Leonard
  • Alf Lund Godbolt
  • Skålnes
  • Skylstad
  • Godbolt
4:34
8."Warrior"
  • Aksnes
  • Leonard
  • Alexander Knolle
  • Rebscher
  • Skylstad
  • Janis Liphardt
  • Skålnes
  • Skylstad
  • Wheatley[b]
3:43
9."Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)"
  • Aksnes
  • Skålnes
 3:20
10."Home"
 3:32
11."Under the Water"
4:24
12."Black Water Lilies"
  • Aksnes
  • Skålnes
  • Skylstad
 4:42
Total length:46:48
Deluxe edition[26]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Half the World Away"
 3:18
14."Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" (Acoustic)
  • Aksnes
  • Skålnes
 3:38
15."Nature Boy"
 2:59
16."Wisdom Cries"
  • Aksnes
  • Leonard
  • Rebscher
  • Rebscher
4:07
17."Running with the Wolves" (Pablo Nouvelle Remix)
  • Aksnes
  • Leonard
  • Rebscher
  • Skålnes
  • Rebscher
  • Skylstad
  • Pablo Nouvelle (remixing)
3:50
Total length:64:40

Notes

Personnel[]

  • Aurora Aksnes – vocals, piano on "Runaway", "I Went Too Far", "Through the Eyes of a Child" and "Black Water Lilies", synth on "Runaway"
  • Alf Lund Godbolt – synth on "Conqueror" and "Lucky", programming on "Through the Eyes of a Child"
  • Nicolas Rebscher – synth on "Running with the Wolves", keyboards on "Wisdom Cries", programming on "Running with the Wolves" and "Wisdom Cries"
  • Odd Martin Skålnes – synth on all standard edition tracks except "Conqueror", "Running with the Wolves", "Lucky", "Home" and "Under the Water", piano on "Home" and "Half the World Away", drums & percussion on "Conqueror", programming on "Conqueror", "Lucky", "Winter Bird", "I Went Too Far", "Under the Water", "Black Water Lilies" and "Half the World Away", bass guitar on "Conqueror", "Running with the Wolves", "Lucky", "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" and "Home", acoustic guitar on "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1,)" (Acoustic) and "Nature Boy"
  • Magnus Åserud Skylstad – drums & percussion, synth on "Runaway", "Lucky", "Through the Eyes of a Child" and "Warrior", piano on "Conqueror"
  • Oystein Skar – synth on "Home"
  • Pete Davis – keyboards & programming on "Conqueror", "I Went Too Far" and "Warrior"
  • Michelle Leonard – keyboards & programming on "Wisdom Cries"
  • Edvard Eriford – programming on "Under the Water"
  • Henrik Michelsen – programming on "Under the Water"
  • Matias Monsen – cello on "Nature Boy"
  • Askjell Solstrand – wurlitzer organ on "Half the World Away"
  • Geoff Lawson – conduction of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on "Half the World Away"

Charts[]

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 51
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] 95
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[31] 43
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[32] 33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[33] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[34] 24
Irish Albums (IRMA)[35] 66
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[36] 1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[37] 41
UK Albums (OCC)[38] 28
US Billboard 200[39] 150
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[40] 21
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[41] 21
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[42] 28

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Norway (IFPI Norway)[43] 2× Platinum 40,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References[]

  1. ^ "AURORA announces debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend". Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend - Aurora". AllMusic. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Album of the week: Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend". Gigwise. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Johnson, Tara (4 March 2016). "Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend". The Music. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Smith, Michael. "Album Review: AURORA – All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Aurora gets ready to fly". The Line Of The Best Fit. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  7. ^ Smyth, David (4 May 2018). "Aurora interview: I want to fight for everything that can't fight for itself". Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Pareles, Jon (9 March 2016). "Review: Aurora's Debut Album Offers Pop Bait and Dark Introspection". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Murphy, John (11 March 2016). "Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend". MusicOMH. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Carroll, Jim (24 March 2016). "Aurora – All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend: melancholic, dark and alien synth-pop". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "AURORA's 'All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend': EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c Hodgkinson, Will (11 March 2016). "Pop: Aurora: All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend". The Times. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Aurora: All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend review – angsty melodrama". The Guardian. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend Review". Paste. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  15. ^ "AURORA's 2016 single Runaway is climbing the charts thanks to TikTok: "People are so beautiful!"". Official Charts. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  16. ^ Ginsberg, Gab (6 December 2019). "Aurora Explains How She Became the 'Voice of the Mountains' For 'Frozen 2's 'Into the Unknown'". Billboard. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  17. ^ i-D staff (15 January 2016). "premiere: aurora, 'conqueror'". i-D. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  18. ^ Trunick, Austin (4 April 2016). "Aurora All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend". Under the Radar. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Album Review: Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend". DIY Magazine. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  20. ^ Holland, Luke (12 August 2016). "Aurora's I Went Too Far: the best of this week's music". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  21. ^ Godwin, Richard (11 March 2016). "Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, album review: 'a wise young soul'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  22. ^ "All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend by Aurora reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b "Reviews for All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend by Aurora". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  24. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-my-demons-greeting-me/id1065969288
  25. ^ "ACE Repertory". www.ascap.com.
  26. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-my-demons-greeting-me/id1065985699
  27. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2 April 2016). "ARIA Albums: Zayn Has the No 1 Album in Australia". Noise11. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  28. ^ [NO&titel=All+My+Demons+Greening+Me+as+a+Friend&cat=a "Austriancharts.at – Aurora [NO] – All My Demons Greening Me as a Friend"] (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  29. ^ [NO&titel=All+My+Demons+Greening+Me+as+a+Friend&cat=a "Ultratop.be – Aurora [NO] – All My Demons Greening Me as a Friend"] (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  30. ^ [NO&titel=All+My+Demons+Greeting+Me+as+a+Friend&cat=a "Ultratop.be – Aurora [NO] – All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend"] (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  31. ^ "Aurora Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  32. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select {{{date}}} on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  33. ^ [NO&titel=All+My+Demons+Greeting+Me+as+a+Friend&cat=a "Dutchcharts.nl – Aurora [NO] – All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend"] (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  34. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Aurora [NO – All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend"] (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  35. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 11, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  36. ^ http://lista.vg.no/artist/aurora/album/all-my-demons-greeting-me-as-a-friend/13750
  37. ^ [NO&titel=All+My+Demons+Greeting+Me+as+a+Friend&cat=a "Swisscharts.com – Aurora [NO] – All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  38. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  39. ^ "Aurora Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  40. ^ "Aurora Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  41. ^ "Aurora Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  42. ^ "Aurora Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  43. ^ "Norwegian album certifications – AURORA – All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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