Infections Of A Different Kind (Step I)

Infections Of A Different Kind (Step I) is the first chapter of the second studio album by Norwegian singer AURORA, surprise-released on September 28, 2018 by Decca Records. The record features eight songs that address issues such as domestic violence, global warming, connection/connectivity and fear of intimacy. The title being that of the eighth track, which AURORA declared as "the most important song I've ever written". The choice for little to no promotion was made because AURORA wanted her fans to hear the album first.

On the day of releasing her debut All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, she said that it was "the first album of many" that she has planned. As of May 12, 2016, after coming back from her European tour, AURORA announced that she was ready to begin writing and producing more material. On October 16, during a Facebook live stream, she stated that she had 15 demo songs and had written around 1,000 songs to that date. According to AURORA, her second album was expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Between 2017 and 2018, AURORA presented eleven new live performances: Queendom, track artist=AURORA]All Is Soft Inside, Soft Universe, Churchyard, The Seed, In Bottles, Feeling and Animal. Two other tracks, Cocoon and Wavelenghts, were cited by AURORA among those composed and recorded during the 2017 "Bergen Song", a songwriting and songwriting camp held annually at eponymous city. The singer also stated, between the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, that she had recorded a total of fifteen new demos and even some of her old songs kept off the first album. In the end, however, AURORA opted for include only seven of the songs performed live on "Infections Of A Different Kind (Step I)", adding a brand new song that gives the title to the release.

Between April and August 2018, the singer released two singles, Queendom and Forgotten Love, which were to be included on her second studio album. Aksnes recorded the album during her stay in France in January of that year, and the production included the producers Askjell, Roy Kerr and Tim Bran, with Aksnes herself also involved in this aspect. Some of the new material was anticipated in live performances, including festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella.

While maintaining some of the themes and stories of the previous album, this production would mark the first time that Aksnes included political and sexual themes in her songs. Most of the new inspiration for these came from the interaction that she had with her fans during her first tour. The music video for "Queendom" saw its release in May 2018, and it included a message to her LGBTQ+ fans; such message was portrayed by Aksnes herself kissing one of her female dancers, during what was described as a "big kissing party" that shows that "every type of love is accepted and embraced" in the singer's "queendom".

In the days leading up to the album release, AURORA posted snippets of each song on her social media, these snippets are not taken from the final album tracks. A promotional video with footage from the documentary ONCE AURORA was also published.

Initially only available in digital and streaming formats, the album was released on CD and LP in November 2019.

""Infections Of A Different Kind (Step I)" peaked at number #7 on Norway's VG-lista, receiving a platinum certification in 2020. The album also entered the Netherlands album charts at number #191. As of May 2024, the album has already sold 230k units worldwide.

The second chapter of the album, A Different Kind Of Human (Step II), was released in June 7, 2020.

In September 2020, a Japanese version of the album was released, featuring A Different Kind Of Human (Step II), an acoustic version of The River and the single Exist For Love as bonus tracks.