AURORA: What Happened to the Earth?

In a depressive musical landscape where the only things popstars seem to sing about are wanting to have sex, having sex, and regretting having sex, the music of Norwegian alt-pop artist AURORA is a beacon of light. She sings about ideas, issues, and themes with gravity. And even when she sings about the small and personal, she does so in a way that relates to the larger systems that shape our world. Her newest album, her fifth studio release, came out in 2024 and is titled What Happened to the Heart? The album, arguably the most political record of her still youthful career, emerged after reading a 2023 letter written by Indigenous activists Sônia Guajajara and Célia Xakriabá (in collaboration with Earthrise) that called for a “revolution in the way we live and understand the world; a revolution from the perspective of the Indigenous mother who resists, cares, heals and protects us.” Her concert film, AURORA: What Happened to the Earth?, however, is a boorishly conventional record of the final performance of her multi-year tour, which is a considerable disappointment because, as a musician and performer, she has resisted mainstream pop conventions. But here, she adopts similar pop conventions in the process of adapting her concert on screen.

The main appeal of What Happened to the Earth? is Aurora Aksnes herself. On stage, she never takes herself too seriously and is always quirky. She warmly and proudly embraces her neurodivergence. She is always smiling, calm, and appears grateful to be where and who she is. She interacts with the audience in a way that stars of her stature rarely dare to. A mostly IMDb-free Gonzalo Lopez, whom she described as a friend to Spin, directs the film in a way that simulates an enjoyable concertgoing experience; if you weren’t there, maybe now you can pretend like you were. But unlike the risks that are so present in AURORA’s music, none are taken here. Besides a random drone that occasionally dots the view as if a fly on a window, the visuals are without flourish; in other words, the “spectacle” is altogether plain. Still, at the end of the day, those who appreciate her music and relish watching her perform will be placated — she sure can sing, and that’s what the people come for.

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