#inside me are two wolves. one is a gay forest spirit and the other is just a filthy dirty rock n roll man

[dirt-grub]

not to be a homosexual but ive already got a stage persona in my head for if i ever start a band

[werewolfdays]

Drabble- Picnic Date

sir, those are my emotional support ocs. I write them being cute and gay to cope thx- 

“Do you really have to go on patrol today?” I wrapped my arms tightly around Jayde’s waist, unwilling to let her leave my side. All I wanted was to be with her right now.

She looked at me adoringly, “I do.” There was only a little bit of regret in her voice. “Plus, I could really use a run.”

“I know, I don’t walk you enough.” I teased.

Jayde scoffed at me, her hand immediately going to poke the most ticklish spot on my side. I hopped away from her with a yelp and she smiled proudly at herself. “You know what they say about people who talk shit.” 

I continued to provoke her, “Since when are you the responsible buzz kill?” 

“Since protecting this place means protecting you.” 

“Come on, Jay.” I complained.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jayde started, walking over to the desk and pulling out a map of the grounds. She grabbed a pen, searching for a particular spot, “Why don’t you meet me…” the tip of the pen marked an X on an area I haven’t explored yet. The property that the Lodge rested in was massive. You could hike for hours and still be inside the perimeter. That’s why Jayde sometimes had to go out on patrols. To check for breaches along the perimeter’s weak points. “Here.”

I looked at what she had marked and nodded. “Okay, for what?”

“A picnic.” Jayde answered with a crooked grin. “Call it a date.”

A wide grin came across my face, “Are you asking me out?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious.” She replied smugly.

I couldn’t resist teasing her more, “Do you have a crush on me?”

Jayde chuckled, “We’re already together, you dork.”

“You have a crush on me,” I said in a sing-song voice. 

She rolled her eyes at me, but the corner of her mouth remained upturned. In one swift motion, Jayde’s hands gripped my waist, and she lifted me up and onto the desk, situating herself between my legs. Boy, did that shut me up. “I have more than a crush on you.” She muttered, leaning in for a heated kiss. 

I wrapped my arms around her neck, pulling her closer to bask in it, thinking if anything could convince her to ditch patrols it would be the way I was kissing her right now. Deepening it with a teasing brush of my tongue against hers, Jayde squeezed my hips, drawing me deeper into her with a sharp inhale. So far, it was working. I smiled briefly into our kisses when her hand went under my shirt to caress my skin, traveling higher and higher. I kissed her harder in encouragement, nipping at her bottom lip.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be the thing that snapped her out of it. Jayde broke away, both of us breathing heavily. “That was,” She panted, utterly flustered, “That was a really good try.” 

“You started it.” I said, kissing my way down her neck.

Jayde didn’t deny her part. “Meet me.” Her voice was low in her throat against my lips. 

My kisses came back up to the corner of her mouth, “I would meet you anywhere.” 

She gave me a love-struck smile, kissing me once more before stepping back. “See you later.”

“Be careful out there.” I said, watching her walk away.

“Always.” 

“Hardly.” 

Jayde’s crooked smile was contagious, and with a wink, she shut the door on her way out. 

The hike wasn’t too bad. It helped that we were in the first couple weeks of autumn. A crisp breeze blew through the trees, carrying dead leaves to rest on the forest floor. I always loved being out here. I’m sure there was a part of me that would make a good werewolf for this very reason. Running free through the woods with enough energy to last for hours sounded pretty liberating. But that was the only part about being a werewolf that really appealed to me. It certainly wasn’t enough to ask Jayde to turn me. 

Following the map, I eventually made it to the place that Jayde had marked. It was a gorgeous little clearing with a massive tree in the center. Its lowest branches were close enough to reach, but the highest stretched up into the sky where I was sure that I could see a good chunk of the property if I could climb it. A stream must have been close by too, because my ears picked up the calming trickle of flowing water. The base of the trunk seemed a good place to set up, so I started unpacking some of the things I brought.

Unsure of when Jayde was going to arrive, I left the food inside my pack, and pulled out a book to entertain myself until then. Settling into the spot, I leaned my back against the tree. I knew Jayde chose this place just for me. It was perfect. Well, almost perfect. All it was missing was her. I still enjoyed it, though. Let myself be sucked into the story in my hands with the relaxing sounds of nature in the background and the smell of fresh forest air. 

I wasn’t aware of how much time passed, but I suddenly heard howling in the distance. I couldn’t explain how, but I was always able to pick out Jayde’s voice among a group of wolves. Her howl always stood out to me. The beautiful song that drifted through the mountains said, I’m coming to you. 

I smiled to myself and continued my reading. It was always difficult to gauge the distance with a howl, sound can travel in funny ways in the woods, but I knew that she wasn’t too close. Not too far away, either. I figured that I could get in another chapter before she showed up. 

About thirty pages later, I heard rustling in the tree line. It started behind me, slowly circling around to my left. Some of the birds went silent for a moment as they listened for the hidden predator, and as she got closer, a few flew away in a flurried panic. A slow grin appeared across my lips, my eyes searching for the movement I was hearing. 

Then, a beautiful white wolf appeared out of the trees like some sort of spirit. Even after all this time, seeing Jayde as a wolf approaching me made my breath falter ever so slightly. She was a wolf, and yet, I always recognized her. It was in the way she looked at me. Her eyes were golden, but it was Jayde in that subtle glow, in how she regarded me with an intelligence that I’ve never seen in any other animal. 

“There you are.” I said, putting my book aside while she trotted up to me. 

Jayde came to where I was sitting and nuzzled her head against mine in greeting. A giggle escaped my lips when she ruffled some of my hair, nearly knocking my glasses off, so I put them down beside my book and reached up to pull her into an embrace. I loved how soft her fur felt. I could run my hands through her thick coat all day if she let me. Some days she did. 

Without much ceremony, Jayde laid down beside me and plopped her head into my lap with a huff. “Too tired to shift back just yet?” I mused, brushing some bits of leaves out of her fur. The wolf grunted in confirmation. “Okay, well, I have clothes in my backpack when you’re ready.”

She made herself more comfortable against me, and I began a soothing motion of my hand through her fur. Starting at her head and brushing all the way down to her back. Or as far down as I could reach. Jayde’s wolf form was huge. I’ve never been around a regular wolf before, but it was hard to imagine that it could be bigger than her. The size and skill she possessed as a wolf was why she was one of the most, if not the most intimidating werewolf around here. I smirked to myself as I realized it also made her the easiest to cuddle. 

We relaxed for a little while, enjoying the quiet and each others company, the calmness that the forest gave us. At one point, there was more rustling close by. Jayde’s head perked up for a second, but she didn’t seem too concerned about it. That is until a reddish-brown wolf appeared in the clearing. They clearly stumbled upon us on accident. The way the wolf froze at the sight of us, their head cocked curiously in our direction, confirmed that. I didn’t recognize them, though I was sure Jayde did. She didn’t get up, but her hackles rose, and a low rumbling growl drifted through the air as she flashed her teeth. It was the wolf version of piss off. 

The other wolf’s ears flattened, bowing their head and retreating back into the woods to leave us alone. I rolled my eyes at the satisfied grumble Jayde made as she relaxed back into my lap. “Don’t be rude.” I chastised softly.

I think there was something about being in her wolf form that made her instincts more heightened. Jayde was always more protective over me as a wolf. She rarely let another werewolf in their wolf form near me. I knew that she just wanted to keep me safe. Sometimes werewolves could be unpredictable when they turn, so I never really said too much about it, but she didn’t need to be that way all the time. 

Her ears twitched in the direction of my voice, and she turned her head enough to side-eye me. I gave her an exasperated smile, shaking my head. In response, Jayde sat up and licked my cheek, which only made me laugh. When I batted her muzzle away, she jumped back playfully. I couldn’t resist how adorable she looked with a wolfish grin and a wagging tail. 

“Big scary werewolf.” I quipped, pushing myself up on my feet. Jayde barked and danced away from me, narrowly avoiding my swat. It was always strange to play around with her like this. It felt like I was interacting with a big dog and Jayde all at once. My brain was telling me that I was seeing an animal, but my heart had no issue knowing it was Jayde. Somehow, it was a perfect balance. Though, I will admit that it took a little getting used to in the beginning.

The white wolf bounced around me, too quick for me to react. I switched tactics, running away from her now. Jayde always took it easy on me, her reflexes and strength gave her an unfair advantage, so she leveled the playing field by holding back. Otherwise she would always win, and there’s no fun in a game of tag that last two seconds whenever she’s it. That being said, she never made it too easy. 

I managed to avoid her while using the tree as a shield, darting around it to try and keep the trunk between me and her, but then she cut me off on the third pass. Her massive wolf form tackled me to the ground. Not enough to hurt me, but enough to throw me into defeated laughter. Jayde’s snout started nuzzling into my neck and poking me in my ticklish spots, which just threw me into uncontrollable hysterics. 

“Okay, Okay, you win!” I laughed, trying to shove Jayde’s head away from me.

At my surrender, Jayde sat back on her haunches, looking far too pleased with herself. I didn’t know how she managed to look so smug in her wolf form, but she did. She shook her coat proudly to bask in her triumph before she started to shift back. The transformation always took a minute or two, so I went to my backpack to pull out the clothes I brought for her. By the time I placed them on the blanket I had laid out earlier, Jayde was walking over to me as a human.

“You’re getting quicker.” She said, bending down to grab her jean shorts and slipping them on. “Nearly got away from me there.” 

“We both know that you would’ve caught me no matter what.” I answered, flashing her a smirk. “How was your patrol?”

“Uneventful.” After Jayde pulled her tank top over her head, she ran a hand through her knotted hair. I kind of liked how her hair looked after a turn. It was attractively unkempt. She was one of the few people who could look sexy without even trying, and I certainly wasn’t complaining. “Boring as hell. All I could think about was coming here to meet you.”

I shrugged innocently, “Told you to ditch.” 

Jayde gave me an amused smile, sitting beside me under the low hanging branches. “I never would’ve thought you’d be the type to convince me to skip out like I’m ditching class in high school.” 

“I can be full of surprises.” I said, rummaging through my bag until I found the food and water I packed. I handed Jayde one of the sandwiches I made, “It’s not as good as the food you make, but it was made with love nonetheless.” 

“That’s the important part.” Jayde eagerly accepted the offering and took a generous bite.

“This spot is beautiful, by the way.” I took a bite of my own sandwich, knowing that I would need the energy for the hike back.

Jayde nodded while she finished chewing, “Yeah, I came across it last week. I knew you’d love it.” Turning made her super hungry, and it was always funny to watch her devour something after shifting back like she thought someone would steal it away from her at any second. 

“I do. This could be a nice little meeting place for us.” I wanted to have a lot more days like this with Jayde. It felt so good to be out here with her. Like nothing could touch us. 

“As long as no more strays come running through.” She grumbled into the remnants of her sandwich.

I gave her a level stare. “Stop being so territorial, Jay. This place is for everyone.” 

Jayde took a minute to finish her sandwich, and expertly tossed the crumpled wrappings into my open backpack. “Yes, but I want you all to myself right now.” Her voice was low enough to almost be a growl. Before and after a turn, Jayde’s wolf lingered like an air around her. Her behavior was still half wolf.

On instinct, she pitched forward and kissed me. I wasn’t about to stop her. I blindly set my sandwich down, not really caring where it landed, and kissed her back. Her arms wrapped around my waist, guiding my body to settle in her lap. This close to her turn, I could actually feel the presence of her wolf as she kissed me. Her skin was still hot, her muscles twitched under my wandering hands with residual energy. And she always kissed me a certain way. It was a different kind of hunger that I tasted on her tongue, more intense, but addicting all the same. 

I pulled back enough for me to see her eyes. Sure enough, they had the yellow glow. My smile grew and I traced my thumb across Jayde’s bottom lip, just taking a moment to admire her. 

“How do you always know?” She asked.

I knew she was talking about the fact that I guessed correctly about her eyes. “I can feel it.”

Jayde smiled at my answer and her eyes started to shift all over my features. Her voice was almost a whisper as she said, “I am so in love with you.” 

Every single time she said that made my heart soar unbelievably high. “Well, I’m in love with you too. Funny how things work out that way.”

Her grin grew brighter, and it was a sight to behold. A part of me wanted to take a picture every time she smiled at me like this, but I knew this was a special smile that she reserved only for me. I selfishly wanted to keep it all to myself.

Jayde switched our positions, laying me down on the blanket with care, her familiar weight settling on top of me. I felt that hunger again as her mouth went to my neck. There was a small voice in the back of my head that told me I probably shouldn’t let a werewolf’s teeth so close to my throat, but the amount of trust I had in Jayde only made it thrilling. The gentle pinch I felt when she nipped at me made my nerves spark in the best way. I could always feel when she wanted to bite harder, and loved her for the restraint she showed. Jayde knew exactly how I liked it. 

“Let me know when to stop.” Jayde said against my ear.

Her voice made me shiver under her. “What makes you think I want you to?”

Her breath tickled my skin when she let out a small chuckle. “Some activities are best kept behind closed doors where I can do what I want to you without worrying about possible prying eyes.” 

“Good point.” I said, bringing her back up to my lips. “Just kiss me.”

It was so easy to let the entire world just fade away when I was kissing her. The gentle cadence of her lips against mine sent me to a completely different realm. It made me feel safe and excited and loved. All at once. I could never get enough of her. I was aware of every movement she made, every inch where her body was pressed against mine. My senses became so alive whenever she was near just so they could drink in every drop of her. I wondered if this is what she felt all the time or if it was even more intense for her. 

We were both getting into it. Perhaps more than we intended, because I felt Jayde’s thigh grind into me. The friction caused me to moan into our kisses, and that noise snapped me out of it. Another movement like that, and we would pass the point of no return. I had just enough self restraint pull back, remembering her words. Though I was sure we were close to reaching a point where neither of us would care, I wanted to at least give her the chance to change her mind.

“Okay,” I uttered through uneven breaths, placing my hand to her shoulder to push her back a couple inches. “Do you want to stop?” 

The question seemed to bring Jayde back to Earth too. She looked down at me for a few seconds, pondering what she wanted. Then, she looked around us and nodded. “Not really, but I don’t want to do it here.” 

I smiled at her, raising a hand to caress her cheek, “That’s fine with me.”

Jayde leaned down to kiss me one more time. Her gratitude present in her soft peck, and she slid off of me, lying on her back beside me. We were quiet for a few minutes, just staring up at the trees reaching into the clouded sky, before Jayde looked around the blanket for something. I watched her curiously as she grabbed the book I had been reading, only looking at it long enough to read the title, and handing it to me. 

“Will you read to me?” She asked.

“You don’t even know what the book is about.” I replied with amusement.

“I don’t care, I just want to hear your voice.” 

I stared at her, unable to hold back a smile or the noticeable blush that I felt color my cheeks. I flipped over onto my stomach and grabbed my glasses. My fingers flipped through the pages, looking for the place I had left off. Even though I didn’t mark it, it wasn’t hard to find the part I was on. Jayde watched me almost the entire time I read, her gaze only straying to look for whatever creature had disturbed the serene quiet or to shut her eyes for a few moments. I read to her until the sun started to set. Until, even with my glasses on, it became too hard to track the words on the pages. Jayde took the book from me, and as I was about to ask what she was doing, she started to read where I stopped. 

I looked at her completely baffled that she could read with such ease. “How can you see?”

She paused and looked up at me, eyes glowing softly in gold. “Werewolf remember?” 

“Of course, you have built-in night vision goggles.” I said, throwing my glasses aside dramatically like they were useless, “How could I forget?”

Jayde smirked and continued her reading. I was certain that she could tell how much I was enjoying the book, and loved her for reading it too me when I couldn’t. It was a way to prolong our time together out here, and I would’ve used any excuse. My worries completely vanished in this space with her, dissipating through the trees like morning fog. I folded my arms under my head while I watched her read, letting the sound of her voice wash over me. 

She was so beautiful, and the simplicity of her reading to me was utterly entrancing. I was overwhelmed by my love for her in this moment, enthralled with every sentence that left her lips. The way she read it to me made me enjoy the story even more. I could watch her all night, but it was getting late. With the sun being gone, the night was bringing the chill of October. Plus, my eyes were growing heavy. 

Sensing this, Jayde only read two chapters. Her slender fingers folded the top corner of the page, shutting the book and setting it aside. When she saw me staring at her with tired focus, she rested her head on her hand, smiling at me and softly asked, “What are you thinking, my love?”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” I said.

We’ve said I love you to each other more times than I can count. I knew that Jayde loves me more than she’s ever loved anyone, and she knew the same about me. But neither of us has said something quite like this. I realized that when Jayde’s eyes widened slightly. The statement wasn’t much different from everything else we’ve told each other, but it somehow felt like an entirely new confession. 

A part of me panicked at the look on Jayde’s face, but then she leaned in to place an incredibly soft kiss to my lips. I kissed her back, and her hand came up to rest on my cheek. “I hope it’s a long life.” She whispered against my lips. 

I couldn’t help how giddy her response made me. My grin was too big to continue kissing her, so instead, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer. It was the first time she ever said that she wanted a long life. And she wanted it with me. Words just couldn’t express how that small sentence made me feel. It made everything worth it. 

I held her against me for a few long moments, enjoying her presence, but remembering how warm she was and not wanting to give that up just yet. Jayde seemed to have caught on to that, and I heard her release an amused huff. 

“You know, if we go home, we can curl up in front of a fire.” She suggested.

“But I want to stay here forever.” I said, unraveling myself from her.

Her eyes studied me again. Even though it was dark, I knew she had no trouble seeing me. With or without glowing eyes. “Me too.” 

“We can come back.” I admitted, knowing that we would both benefit from a warm fireplace and some dinner. “Maybe next time we’ll bring camping supplies.”

“That sounds like a great plan.” Jayde gave me a quick kiss before getting up. “Come on, I’ll give you a piggy-back ride home.”

“That sounds like a great plan.” I said excitedly, jumping up to pack our things for the walk back to the Lodge.

[aurora-daily]

Mother Earth’s Warrior

Interview: Aurora for The Line of Best Fit by Cheri Amour (September 28th, 2018)

Norway’s greatest pop export, AURORA speaks to Cheri Amour about her not-so-difficult second album and why it opens up a forest of thought for our future preservation.

There have long been popular culture characters in our midst hell-bent on saving the planet. Healing the world and making it a better place, for you and me and the entire human race. But there’s something different about AURORA Aksnes, better known as million-streamed Norwegian singer/songwriter, AURORA. Her latest release, Infections of A Different Kind, puts Mother Earth at its heart.

It feels fitting then to be sat in one of London’s luscious parks together, AURORA decked out in green amongst the evergreen sipping on her coconut water. She is slight but by no means shy and constantly alert, throwing out relatable anecdotes that seem to be skipping through her mind as she scans her surroundings. Her eyes are shining bright, often looking outwards rather than directly at me. Instead, she is constantly seeking out the sky, the clouds, darting at the path of a pigeon, beaming at a small child opposite us on another table. At one point, she becomes distracted by my stationary choices (“I have the same pen but in green”) and is immediately back in the bustling streets of gay Paris where she made the purchase, with her underlying care and compassion for all things, living or otherwise. “I should’ve brought mine and they’ve could’ve spoken”.

It’s been over two years since the singer sprang onto our stereos like a forest-spirit from the Bergen mountains with her debut EP, Running With Wolves. But whilst her musical mission might be led by a bold vision for a brighter future, her present still looks pretty rosy with debut full-length, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend racking up a massive 200 million streams globally. It’s an almost magical might for an artist who only celebrated her 22nd birthday this year. But on speaking with AURORA, her emotional intelligence is undeniable. “I know the world is not a fairy tale and we’re just doing our best…” she happily admits, an astute admission for someone so renowned for her enchanting pop gems.

For the Bergen-based artist though, her strength clearly comes from the collective power of change rather than the sole-creator. She often refers more holistically to an issue than nitpicking specifics. Indeed, it’s this rallying sense of collective change that has gifted AURORA such a solid fan base of “warriors and weirdos” from the depths of South America to the smaller towns and cities of Australia. “It’s so important to fight for the things you care about”, she continues. “They have proven they can do that. They share my message. They stand up for me. If one person disagrees with what I do, they go to war”.

It reminds me of another story of a similarly impassioned figure wanting to make collective change in their world. Often admired as the crowning work of Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli, Princess Mononoke powerfully paints the struggle between the gods of a forest and the humans who consume its resources. And, it seems unbeknownst to Ghibli at the time, over 20 years on from its original release, that same spirit hasn’t been lost in Infections of A Different Kind.

Her relationship with nature is woven throughout, a sort of Hansel and Gretel style breadcrumb trail through her mind’s eye of the world around us. Much like Ghibli’s tale which finds the main protagonist locked in a struggle for the future of the unspoiled forest and an elaborate moral universe, the sophomore record is rooted in Mother Earth. “We are killing incredible beauty without even knowing that we’ve already killed so much”, she reflects, her fingers playing with a small burgundy, woven scarf. It looks homemade, thin and narrow, entwined around her small hands. “We’ve killed entire species of animals. We’ve killed possibilities of making medicine. We’ve killed people”, she pauses, clearly upset by the thoughts. “It makes me sad because I know the planet will live. She will outlive us all and we will die because we’re just tiny ants on her big skin”.

But despite her worry, life and death feel like a natural cycle for AURORA, as you might expect from someone so clued up on the climate. She speaks confidently about nature’s balance, preferring the pragmatic output of an organism rather than anything overly fussy which could also be true of the sounds she makes. “I don’t really like flowers that much. They’re too pretty for their own good. People pick them and they get to die inside a vase”. If she were a flower, AURORA would be a dried white rose, perfectly encapsulated within a moment of time; pure, classic and radiating humility. Meanwhile, lavender for its medicinal properties and affection to bees gets a glowing write up. “That’s my favourite thing about Mother Earth actually”, she explains. “All the knowledge and all that she provides us; the fruit, the medicine. That’s why we need the rainforest but we tear it down”.

Only recently have we seen the devastating effects of illegal logging in the Papua New Guinea forests which provide a home for many of its unique species. Most timbers from New Guinea and its offshore islands are processed in China before being sold around the world, largely for use in furniture and flooring. Likewise, in the Amazon around 17% of the forest has been lost in the last 50 years, mostly due to forest conversion for cattle ranching. Sadly it’s the global brand giants causing most of the destruction with Greenpeace releasing a recent report that identified major palm olive producers such as Unilever, Nestlé, Colgate-Palmolive, and Mondelez, have destroyed an area of rainforest almost twice the size of Singapore in less than three years. The problem is, much like the Native American saying, what will happen after the last tree has fallen and the rivers have been poisoned?

Live favourite, "The Seed" encapsulates this idea. Her vocal is moving, selflessly offering herself up to restore what humanity has destroyed: “Suffocate me / So my tears can be rain / I will water the ground where I stand / So the flowers can grow back again”. "The Seed" acts like the nucleus of change for AURORA. It’s the birth of something. It’s thought or an act or a movement. “It’s the beginning of everything”, she explains, enthused. “The way the seed lies underground with no sun, nothing, darkness but it knows where to go and then it breaks through the stone, the mountain, asphalt, and earth. All these things they came from down there”, she insists, pointing at a nearby flower bed at which point her gaze is caught by a fluttering pigeon on the roof. After a few seconds, she apologises: “The pigeons are so distracting”.

Conversation turns to her own beginnings, painting a picture of her home back in Norway which sounds like something straight out of a Lord of The Rings novel. A fjord carved out by glaciers in the ice ages with a little island in the middle of it that she would often take a small kayak out to and sleep overnight on in the summer when the sun rarely sets. “On one of them lives quite an angry goat so don’t go there. He’s like a proper…”, she gesticulates the animal’s horns with her hands by her ears. “He’s intense. All the other ones are fine”, she laughs. The open water feels like it is a bit of a theme to her early years, spending much of her childhood on sailboats of some varieties, not surprising for a country that has the kind of tight relationship with water that Brits have with tea. Whether it's coastline, fjord, lake or river, water is everywhere in Norway and Norwegians make the most of it. Her father sailed the seas for four years in a row before she was born, she tells me proudly.

The other towering backdrop to her youth were those sturdy mountains and an ambitious walking regime. The latter almost certainly a contributing factor to her ingenuity and appreciation of the rambling flora and fauna so prevalent in her songwriting today. “We’d go for mountain hikes at least four times a week”, she states, matter of factly. “You bring some chocolate with bread and cheese to eat at the top. It’s kind of what you do together with your Mum’s friend and her kid, you know?” Perhaps not the same as growing up in the flatlands of Norfolk, I admit. “Well, it’s very normal in Norway, especially Bergen because you have the mountains everywhere”, she continues. There’s a mountain in every city at least. In every village. And in my village, we only have eight neighbours, there’s only us living there. And I look at the water and I have the forest behind me. She openly sighs and takes a moment, transporting herself back to the shimmering open waters, stood with lungs full of the fresh mountain air.

Surrounded by such a magical setting, it’s not surprising that AURORA tries to create a kingdom of her own for listeners. The first hint at the new record, former single “Queendom” is dedicated to “everything that’s alive”. Insistent that “Queendom” should be a place “with only love”, the song is also a celebration of our differences with an open innocence that tries to find the best in all of us. Again, Ghibli’s own ethical ethos rings true here, with Princess Mononoke heralded as for its ability to make heroes of outsiders and blurring the stereotypes that usually define such characters. It’s the same for AURORA. She is an artist breaking down huge barriers around inclusivity which shine through “Queendom”’s electro-pulse and call-to-arms. “It’s very much about giving hope, like being given the tools to become a warrior, a fighter to deal with the now. Not an escape but a way to really stay in the present, and make a change”.

Directed by Paris-based, Polish-Australian Director King Burza, the single’s video finds Aurora bathed in natural light exploring the cavernous surrounds of an old country home, the dappled light falling on her through the beaten window frames. She leaps through the high-ceiling hallways in flowing white cotton, much like the lyrics suggest, as our lamb. The pulsing chorus beat kicks in with a procession of women dancers weaving behind her arms like the Shiva herself, the fierce warrior Goddess. With Scandinavia often heralded for its gender parity, it’s not surprising that a huge part of “Queendom”’s rallying cry is being channeled into some sort of feminist anthem but as AURORA herself says: “it’s much more than that. I want it to be a song for people in need”.

“I began writing for Infections of A Different Kind the day after my first album was released...it’s good when it’s fresh when you’re still like a predator. You can still smell the blood from the prey."

With its timely post-#metoo-era release, it’s not surprising that there’s a strong focus on the strength of women in here though as well as flipping assumed gender norms and empowering an army, as she sings: “The women will be my soldiers / With the weight of life on their shoulders”. It’s an element of Nordic folklore that really spoke to her warrior instincts. “I like that it was often the women that hunted. When the men went out on a journey to kill and steal, the women stayed and were the boss which is kind of cool”. Similarly, she sees herself played back to her in scrappy forest-dwelling nymphs, the Huldra. “They had messy hair like I had when I was a child”, she jokes.

Propelled by our comparisons, talk turns into a bit of an education in Norwegian children’s tales as she boasts that many of them centre around a troll. Whether that’s a troll turning to stone in the sun before it eats the children or the story of a young boy from the village who challenges the troll to a porridge-eating contest. Tactfully tying his knapsack to his belly, the boy scoops more porridge into the bag than he eats himself and then, once full, slashes it open encouraging the troll to do the same so they can power through the porridge. Fooled by the boy, the troll cuts his stomach and dies leaving all of the gold and silver in the cave for the boy to take home to pay off his family debts. “Then you have the troll mother who has put her eleven troll children to bed. That’s the first song I sang when I was two years old in my Mum’s blue kitchen”, she recalls. A newborn with pink cheeks begins to whimper to its Mum on the table next to us now which lures the singer’s attention away for a fleeting moment, her mouth fixed in a wide-open smile. “Sorry, babies and pigeons. Very distracting”, she reasons.

After the brief introduction to Norwegian folklore, it feels apt to ask around the production of the new record which took place in a fairytale studio-cum-chateau somewhere in the South of France. Positioned in a vineyard surrounded by animals and a pond, the castle sounds like the right kind of pastoral setting for such a life-affirming record. AURORA details an almost Beauty And The Beast-like existence there, holed up in the huge house’s halls and libraries for just over a month. Chef Marie cooked a three-course meal, three times a day whilst the dog Paula and cat, Ginger amble through the corridors.

It becomes clear quite quickly that AURORA hasn’t faced the difficult second album syndrome. “I began writing for it the day after my first album was released because then the first album had been done already for four months”, she beams. “That’s why I always begin right after I release right after my previous thing. I begin on the next”. A natural hunter, she adds: “It’s good when it’s fresh when you’re still like a predator. You can still smell the blood from the prey. And you’re kind of just running after it and you know where to go, that’s how I felt”.

It was a fairly natural process then? “I found it way easier than the first because I really knew what I wanted. I’ve always known since I was an embryo what I want and now I have the tools to make it happen. I know how to produce, and how to play more instruments. I played the drums and the rhythms. The multi-instrumentalist played drums on all of the songs on Infections of A Different Kind, actually, it’s kind of a new passion for her. “I love it. It’s very energetic and you get quite tired afterward which I love. I love the feeling of exhausting myself”, she grins.

"I have my own dream language which half of the population understands...a fourth...an eleventh so I also had to learn things myself because I am the only one who can know."

Adding to her workload, AURORA took up a lot of the production duties on the record too which makes a powerful statement in a world for far too many women artists are corralled into working with male producers. She’s not afraid to tackle this in her own terms, often struggling to articulate what she wanted using the technical language, the singer offers up her own alternative parallels: “Make it sound like water or bellyache”. “I realised I don’t have the technical language. I have my own dream language which half of the population understands...a fourth...an eleventh so I also had to learn things myself because I am the only one who can know”. She’s adamant that crafting her music, much like her new love of drums, is one of her biggest pleasures. The ability to realise her imagined worlds into reality gives her a certain sense of belonging which, in the future, might remain a constant more so than the live show. “If there’s one thing I’ll do less of, you know in forty years, it’s touring. But not studio, I’ll always be there”, she adds resolutely.

But despite her preference, she knows the power of sharing her songs with her legion of fans and she confesses many of the new numbers have already made it into the live set. “I think at one point it was maybe a bit too many. I like all my songs better live just because of the energy so it’s always nice to know that the fans will get to experience that first”. And that’s exactly what AURORA has tried to do with the release schedule of the record, teasing one more single out last week ahead of today’s full-length. The stark opener of “Churchyard” finds AURORA’s sincere vocal layered over one another and doused in reverb as a solemn strings section soothes in with a morbid twang as she questions the fine balance between life and love. You can almost see the arms flailing theatrics of similarly environmental leaning, Kate Bush against the beat.

Indeed, AURORA isn’t the first artist looking to heal the world with their humanitarian ideals. Pop’s biggest ally, Cher donated more than 180,000 bottles of water to Flint, Michigan, in the middle of the city's clean-water crisis. Grammy Award-winning, Rihanna was named Harvard Humanitarian of the Year back in 2017 for her philanthropic efforts after funding the build of a state-of-the-art centre for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer in her home nation of Barbados. Infections of A Different Kind stands united with Mother Earth almost as a vocal shining a floodlight on the dire situation we’ve left her in.

At this point, playing with the tousled strands of her hair, AURORA is whisked off for another meeting and disappears into the trees of Holland Park, much like the Huldra into the Norwegian forest. Just from spending an hour with her, it’s clear how much the Norwegian songwriter cherishes real connections with the people she meets and is keen to create a shared space where we can all co-exist together; new technologies alongside sustainable ecosystems. Without national treasure, David Attenborough preaching about the plastics in our oceans, it’s sometimes easy for us to cut out the stark realities of climate change. But high up in those Norwegian mountains, with her ear to the wind, AURORA hears it all and is ready to lead.

Forget Princess Mononoke, AURORA is our modern day pop royalty.

Infections of A Different Kind is out now on Decca Records.