Wiki
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Release Date
21 January 2022
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Length
15 tracks
The Gods We Can Touch is the third studio album by Norwegian singer and songwriter AURORA, released on January 21, 2022 by Decca Records. The album was produced by long-time collaborator Magnus Skylstad and AURORA themselves, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It features French singer Pomme on the track Everything Matters.
“The Greeks had gods and goddesses for everything. For anxiety, for wine, for sex… A long time ago, when this concept of gods and goddesses began, they were more human, more relatable, and almost touchable. Most importantly, they had flaws.” – AURORA about the album.
The album was characterized by being an electropop record, along with folk-pop, ethereal, art pop, electro-folk and synth-pop. The album's sound incorporates an eclectic and multifaceted style, defined with vast soundscapes, electronic textures, Western elements, intimate orchestrations, multiple layers and textures. The album's musical influences are based on chamber pop, global music, Latin music and arena rock.
The lyrical themes are heavily inspired predominantly by Greek mythology. Furthermore, the lyrical writing styles have been described as dark and disturbing, with an ultimate and introspective style. The lyrics throughout the album's songs also talk about self-empowerment, abuse, and heartbreak. AURORA's soprano vocal performance throughout the album was described by many critics as "ethereal", with interludes for songs that showcase her voice and vocal pitch changes. Georgia Griffiths of The Music said that AURORA is "channeling Lana Del Rey, next it's Santigold" in her vocal performances on the record.
AURORA began production on her new album in November 2019. She hinted at plans to release a new album shortly after the release of her album A Different Kind Of Human – Step 2. In an interview with Riff Magazine, she revealed that she was working on two albums at the same time, one of which she said was "further in the future". Regarding the album closer, she stated: "The perspective is much bigger. It's still quite political, and it's still quite opinionated and also very emotional. It's even more about the individuals who make up the army. It's an album for every individual within the great army of love". She further detailed the album in an interview with Motley, stating: "My next album will be clad in an armor of toughness. But I'm also really exploring the soft, delicate part of me, which I want to open up even more on my next album".
On May 11, 2020, AURORA archived all of her Instagram posts and then posted about a new song about love and a new era. The following day, she announced the album's originally intended first single, Exist For Love, sharing that it was the beginning of Chapter 3. The song was officially released on May 14, 2020.
Cure For Me was released on July 7, 2021, 1 year and 2 months after Exist For Love. The day before, AURORA gave an interview with Berges Tidende where she stated that her new album was finished, saying "before leaving home, I listened to the latest version and approved it". A snippet of the Exist For Love music video was shown in the Cure For Me music video, further supporting the remaining song on the album.
On October 11, AURORA announced Giving In To The Love as the album's third official single. It was released worldwide on October 14, 2021. The album was officially announced at the time of the single's release.
On December 3, the album's first promotional single, Heathens was surprise-released and soon after a live performance of the song was published. A live streamed concert, "A Touch Of The Divine", was announced, intended for January 25, 2022, shortly after the album's release. About this concert AURORA said: "it will sound different live than it will be on the live broadcast to engage the music in different ways."
On January 5, 2022, AURORA announced a new single via Instagram, tagging French singer and songwriter Pomme in the post, who did the same on her Instagram. On January 7, A Dangerous Thing and Everything Matters were released as singles (titled after the first song).
A Temporary High was released as the fourth single from the project along with a music video, on January 27, 2022.
To promote the album, AURORA announced a world tour with American singer and songwriter Sub Urban as the opening act for shows in the United States.
Spring and summer 2022 saw the release of previously vinyl-only tracks: The Woman I Am, The Devil Is Human and A Potion For Love, and acoustic versions of A Temporary High and The Woman I Am.
On October 5, 2023, AURORA's book The Gods We Can Touch went on sale in her online store. After the book was announced, several pages were shared by AURORA on social media. One of the pages contained a list of 23 song titles classified into "DARK" and "LIGHT". Twelve of these were different from their final titles ("Mama Yyu Yyu" was a different spelling of the alternative title "Hermaphroditus", which was later found) and entirely new titles such as "Angels On Earth", along with Midas Touch and "God Of War", were included in the list.
The album commercially obtained a good performance in international lists. It was the singer's second #1 in Norway with 2,300 units and her first top 10 in the United Kingdom with 4,000 units sold. The album also debuted on the albums charts in France, Mexico, Belgium, Austria, Australia, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Spain, Scotland, Poland, Switzerland and the United States. It is estimated that it sold more than 25.000 units worldwide in its opening week and 700.000 after two years and three months of release.
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