All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
Studio album by AURORA
Released	11 March 2016 (2016-03-11)
Recorded	2015–16
Genre	Art pop electropop[1]
Length	46:48 (standard) 64:40 (deluxe)
Label	Decca Glassnote
Producer	AURORA Odd Martin Skålnes Mangus Åserud Skylstad Michelle Leonard Nicholas Rebscher Jeremy Wheatley Jonny Wright Alf Lund Gobolt Tom Hull Edvard Førre Erfjord Henrik Barman Michelsen Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Eden Ahbez
AURORA chronology
Running with the Wolves EP (2015) All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (2016) TBA
Singles from All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
"Runaway" Released: February 26, 2015 "Running With The Wolves" Released: June 10, 2015 "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" Released: August 25, 2015 "Half the World Away" Released: November 12, 2015 "Conqueror" Released: February 16, 2016 "I Went Too Far" Released: July 5, 2016

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend is the debut studio album by Norwegian singer Aurora. It was released on March 11, 2016 by Decca Records.^[2] It was preceded as the follow up project to the Running with the Wolves extended play, which was released in May 2015. The album includes singles "Runaway", "Running With The Wolves", "Half the World Away" and "Conqueror".

Background

The background for the album started at the beginning of 2015. AURORA herself was just beginning to break through as a professional singer and musician with her debut single "Under Stars", which was released in 12 December 2014.

After the single was released, she announced that she began to work on more music, which would eventually become her debut extended play. Then on 26 February 2015, she revealed her second single and lead single from her debut extended play, entitled "Runaway", which began to build upon her existing fan base. From the lead single, the extended play was released, under the title Running with the Wolves, on 3 May 2015.

To accelerate the post release of the EP, the second single, entitled "Running With The Wolves", was released 10 June 2015, and was classed as being the breakthrough single of AURORA's singing career. As well as the song bringing her to the centre of the media, it was also her first entry into the charts peaking at number 72 in Germany.

In the summer, she was constantly reported on working on new music and, on 25 August 2015, her third single, entitled "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)", was released. The song itself was released as an acoustic version and released the studio version of the song the following month. It was the first single outside of AURORA's previous work and sparked much controversy over her planning and producing her debut album, which she later confirmed not long after the song was released.

During the late days of October 2015, she confirmed that she was chosen to perform the lead soundtrack for the 2015 John Lewis commercial which was to air in the UK over the Christmas months. The advert premiered on 2 November 2015, revealing a cover version of song "Half the World Away" originally released and conducted by English rock band Oasis back in 1994. The version of the song was another breakthrough success for the singer as it earned her a place in the British and Irish charts, peaking at number 11 and 22, respectively.

AURORA officially released the song as her fourth single a few days later, revealing the details of her debut album. It was announced under the title All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend and it was to be released on 4 March 2016. She also revealed that "Runaway" was to be treated as the lead single and that "Running With The Wolves" and "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" were listed as songs on the album, as well as "Half The World Away".

In January 2016, since the announcement of her album, the official audio for AURORA's fifth single, entitled "Conqueror", was released with the music video to follow on 16 February 2016. It was the last song to be released officially until the album's release.

The album was eventually released as scheduled on 4 March 2016. It officially charted in 6 countries, including Norway, where it topped the charts.

Upon the album's release and it's post-release, all of the remaining songs from All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend were released. The songs were "Warrior" (10 March 2016), "Lucky", "Winter Bird" (22 March 2016), "Through The Eyes Of A Child" (26 May 2016), "I Went Too Far" (3 June 2016), "Black Water Lilies", "Nature Boy", "Wisdom Cries" and "Home" (10 June 2016). During that lengthy period of time, she embarked on a major continental tour of Europe and an individual UK tour to promote the ongoing releases of her debut album.

After the tours, she released the sixth single from the album, entitled "I Went Too Far", on 5 July 2016.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
DIY	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A-[5]
MusicOMH	[6]
The Guardian	[7]

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend received general acclaim 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.^[3]

Track listing

Personnel

• Aurora Aksnes – vocals (all tracks); piano (tracks 1, 6, 7, 12); synth (track 1)
• Alf Lund Godbolt – synth (tracks 2, 4); programming (track 7)
• Nicolas Rebscher – synth (track 3); keyboards & programming (track 16); programming (track 3)
• Odd Martin Skålnes – synth (tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12); piano (tracks 10, 13); drums & percussion (track 2); programming (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13); bass guitar (tracks 2, 3, 4, 9, 10); acoustic guitar (tracks 14, 15)
• Magnus Åserud Skylstad – synth (tracks 1, 4, 7, 8); piano (track 2); drums & percussion (all tracks)
• Oystein Skar – synth (track 10)
• Pete Davis – keyboards & programming (tracks 2, 6, 8)
• Michelle Leonard – keyboards & programming (track 16)
• Edvard Eriford – programming (track 11)
• Henrik Michelsen – programming (track 11)
• Matias Monsen – cello (track 15)
• Askjell Solstrand – wurlitzer organ (track 13)
• Geoff Lawson – conductor (The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) (track 13)

Charts

References