AURORA caught up with NME backstage at Glastonbury 2024 to tell us about working with Bring Me The Horizon and her plans for Wembley Arena. Watch our video interview and check out the full chat below.
Shortly before she took to the stage for a blissed-out performance at The Park, the Norwegian art-pop star spoke to us backstage to share what it was like to lend her vocals to BMTH’s ‘Limousine’ from new album ‘Post Human: Nex Gen‘.
When asked about the collab earlier this month, Bring Me frontman Oli Sykes told NME: “I know what I wanted on that song and that was someone to bring something that could level it up – someone like a really ethereal, haunting, beautiful, voice,” he told NME. “I wanted someone to elevate it and take it somewhere else. The song itself is very Deftones-influenced, almost to a point of parody! For this whole record, we’re happy to admit that the songs all are very nostalgic homages to loads of bands, but it’s also felt very important that we do something where we were pushing it as well to make it our own, put our own stamp on it.
He added: “AURORA for me is what a pop star should be, what the next wave of pop stars should look like; someone that has the songs, but is a real person who dares to speak what they believe in, who gives a shit about the world.”
Read below to see what AURORA made of it, and her thoughts on what Glastonbury means to people.
AURORA backstage at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
NME: Hello again AURORA. Welcome back to Glastonbury.
AURORA: “It’s really nice to be back. I love this festival. It’s overwhelming. So I feel kind of glonky, you know, but I’m so excited to play. I love to be outside again. Festival season is the best.”
Glastonbury’s sense of peace, love and like reconnecting with each other seems to like tie into the themes of your new album ‘What Happened To The Heart?’. Discuss.
“Yes, discus…ting! But yes, it’s true. It feels like the the main purpose of these festivals. We need to go outside, touch the grass and feel the air and just be in touch with each other. It’s super nice to see how people are so cohesive. They even sway the same way without knowing. When the bass is high enough, you know that people’s heartbeats will beat the same ≠ you can feel it, the connection. It’s very needed. I’m very grateful.”
We just spotted a Chemical Brother backstage. They’re friends and collaborators of yours. Could they be surprise guests for your set?
“Oh, no. We work as friends now. So he’s here for emotional support. I don’t know how to do this without Tom [Rowlands].”
Since we last spoke, you collaborated with Bring Me The Horizon on ‘Limousine’. What did it mean to have that come together?
“Well, I’m a very big metal fan. I heard Bring Me The Horizon when I was a teenager. They were with me for some time. I was introduced to them by a lover. My first lover who actually died. It is sad. But it’s beautiful as well. Because now when I listen to them, and now when I made a song with him, I know that he would be just – it felt very full circle in the journey of grief.”
We heard know Oli slipped into your DMs and you kinda were like, “Fuck, yeah!”
“We bonded over Palestine. Because I was like, ‘We need to stick up for them’, and he was like, ‘Yeah, we do. It’s true’. Then he was like, “Do you want to make a song?” I was like, ‘Yes!’
Is it a sign of things to come? There are some gnarly songs on your album too. Could you go make a metal record?
“I think so. My heart won’t be complete without it so yeah, definitely. I really want to do it because I just love it so much. It’s such a force. Like a wave, a deadly wave coming at you, which is so cool. So I will, I have to for my Norwegian ancestors. Until now I’ve been purely a disappointment to them. Finally I will make them proud.”
Next year you’re playing a show at Wembley Arena. What do you have in store for that?
“I forget about that all the time. It’s huge, isn’t it? It’s crazy business. I’ll put the big guns out, metaphorically.
What are you going to do straight after your Glastonbury set?
“Drink beer. I’m immensely excited.I am terrified of this festival. It’s so fuckin’ huge. Maybe if I have a beer and I become a bit braver, I can try to see some things but I am quite terrified!”
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