I don't know where I picked up the recommendation to listen to AURORA, but I've been seeing her on YouTube, and she's kind of a weirdo, so I thought I'd look up her music. After listening to all of her albums, I keep going back to the second one.

Kind of like the ReoNa song Nainai I posted months ago, it's a dark pop song, but more electronic here.

It took me way too long to realise what "he told me I belong in a churchyard" meant. What's the most common thing on a church's property (its yard) beside the building itself? Yeah. Even the next line "he told me I could walk away but I wouldn't get far" didn't really clue me in.

The song itself is pretty wild, but there are some live versions where she just goes off with some gibberish at the end. Goes completely unhinged. But if you've ever seen any interviews with her, or any of the "AURORA just being herself/a comedian for X minutes" type of videos, you know she's not completely normal. And that's awesome in music, especially when it fuels creative expression. And we're all a little crazy — there's no room for judgment here.

Also, it's not in the lyrics on Apple Music, but I'm pretty sure what she's chanting at the end is "a fake human". This is something that comes up on her third album as well. And it makes me wonder if she's familiar with the Japanese book No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. It's been translated into many other languages. I've read it myself. It shows up on a few of the "most disturbing" book lists because it's about a guy who believes he is no longer [qualified to be called] human, because the things he's seen have stripped away his empathy. The book itself is not that disturbing, it's just when you consider Dazai himself did the same thing that you start to realise it was kind of an autobiography, or partially so. Look out for anyone saying things like "no longer human" or "fake human" who's read Dazai. They might be going through some shit. Also, it's not a long book, or a difficult read. If you have the mental stability, I highly recommend it. If you don't — stay away from that book.

If you like her solo work, check out her project with Tom Rowland, TOMORA.

I think she is a fascinating artist carrying a similar torch to Björk.