AURORA debuts ‘The Secret Garden’ and tells us about new album progress

AURORA has shared her new single ‘The Secret Garden’, as well as opening up about the inspiration behind her new material. Check out ‘The Secret Garden’ on NME first below, and watch our interview with AURORA above.

The lead song taken from the soundtrack to Marc Munden’s new film of the same name, ‘The Secret Garden’ is the latest release from the Norwegian phenomenon following on from recent single ‘Exist For Love‘ and ‘Into The Unknown’ from Frozen 2.

Speaking to NME about the origins of the song, The Chemical Brothers collaborator and Billie Eilish favourite explained how she wrote it after reading the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel that inspired the new movie.

“I actually wrote it quite a long time ago, I was quite a little bean back then,” AURORA told NME. “I just always felt like this song had quite an imaginative soul. I was a very imaginative child and wrote this song after reading the book The Secret Garden for the first time. When they asked me to make a song for the movie remake, I was so happy and tried to pitch them this old song. It was so meant to be.”

She continued: “It was always about finding this magical place in this garden, which can also symbolise shelter. The world can be quite harsh and difficult, especially nowadays. It can feel darker than it is.

“It’s about this magical garden where you’re allowed to grow and nothing is trying to prevent you from just existing and breathing and being healthy.”

Following AURORA’s breakthrough 2016 debut ‘All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend’ and the two-part follow-up ‘Infections Of A Different Kind (Step One)‘ and ‘A Different Kind Of Human (Step Two)‘, fans are now awaiting news of her new album. The Norwegian singer-songwriter confirmed to NME that her next release won’t be another “step” and that people should expect “something completely different”.

“It’s chapter three of my life, it’s a very new world for me,” she said. “I’ve gotten to explore some very new things within myself, which just makes it all the more fun. I’m asking questions to everything that made us the way we are now; in our past, in politics, religion, and in weird ways of thought we have created that make no sense – like racism, not being a feminist or burning women for being witches.

“All of these strange things that we have convinced ourselves are the right thing to do, which is just so odd. It makes no sense. I just wonder where it started, you know, this cruelty, and the good things of course.”

Explaining how recent world events had been inspiring her, AURORA continued: “Seeing the world in pain is often my biggest reason to write a song. Music is the most healthy thing to ease the pain.

“I don’t think that without the coronavirus that so many people would have had the time to think and fight for the Black Lives Matter movement. Still, after all these years I can’t believe that it’s taken the world such a long time. That’s a thing on my album, because I talk a lot about the first two people, Adam and Eve. It’s very obvious that Adam and Eve were black, because the first people on the Earth were black. It’s weird that all the artwork of them is white, because it makes no sense.

“My point is that coronavirus has done something good, because it’s also given the world time to really thing about this important matter.”

Asked about when she was might release more new music, AURORA replied: “I have quite a lot ready already, but I’ve been wondering a lot about when’s the right time. Sometimes there is so much happening in the world that it feels wrong to release a song if it’s not a direct answer. It can feel a bit rude.

“I haven’t had it in me yet, but maybe [I’ll release more music] in the Autumn.”

‘The Secret Garden’ by AURORA is out now. She’s also been announced as one of the headliners of Øya 2021, which will also feature Stormzy, Bon Iver, Michael Kiwanuka and more.