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biography / portrait

Danish singer/guitarist with a twist: Aura Dione lives her inner child with colourful outfits, unconventional lyrics, playful music, and extravagant live-shows. Just don´t think in boxes – call it better art for a better world. She could not have picked a better artist-name for herself. Simply because this 23-year-old beauty from Copenhagen really has an aura about her: Long black hair, bright eyes, a stunning figure and more ambition to succeed than most men could handle. A caterpillar in a cocoon that has been waiting patiently for years. Even though that is probably her biggest weakness. "I need to do something all the time", she says with a breath taking smile. "My dream scenario would be: Getting up at five thirty in the morning, at seven thirty be down dancing for three hours, then play music for four hours, then one hour in the gym, and then playing a big concert. I mean, every day, 31 days a month. That’s what I want." Longing for a professional career in music all her life, Aura has been with various record-companies in her teenage years, before she travelled the world (Australia and Japan in particular), and returned to Denmark in order to record her first album "Columbine". A homage to the comic servant in the classic Italian Commedia dell´Arte that also finds its way into the cover-artwork. Just check those colours and squares… Released in late January 2008 the album "Columbine" got rave reviews, reached the top of the local album-charts, and spawned the number-1-single "Song For Sophie". A kick-start for Aura – and a big surprise for anyone else. For one, she does not fit into any musical box, and what is more she does not write your stereotypical pop-lyrics either. Instead the 12 songs on "Columbine" are far from being normal. Being compared to the likes of Feist, Gwen Stefani, Shania Twain or even Tracy Chapman, Aura mixes folk music with electronics, touches of country, pop and dub, as well as a large, sometimes odd instrumentation including toy-piano, strings, glockenspiel, flute, horns and banjo. "Everything I do is done with a sense of humor", she laughs. "I like to add things that just give it something else and, you know, in this world where a lot of Pop music is just 1-2-3-4, just after the book, I want to change it a bit." Music with a twist. Now that is what every artist should aim for. But, however, very little do. Aura being the exception: a fresh breeze of air indeed. However, if you think her arrangements are colourful, playful and hedonistic, you have not heard her lyrics yet. That is where Aura shows her biggest strength: May it be an ode to gay icon Antony Hegarty (from The Johnsons), whom she adores and hopes to record a duet with, her rage about being mistaken for a prostitute ("Are You For Sale"), her fear for white clowns ("Glass Bone Crash"), or various stories about love and relationships – none of them simple, one dimensional or predictable. Mind you: When it comes to Aura you should always expect the unexpected. Like with "You´re The Reason". A melodramatic song that is not as love-sick as it seems: "It´s actually the story of a girl that is on her way home", Aura explains. And as all good art reflects the personality of its creator, Aura is just like her music: full of life, full of contradictions, yet open minded, and ready to take over the world. She embraces other art forms like fashion and photography, designs her own clothes, is a dedicated shoe-collector, and puts on what you could call quite a show: very minimalist and low-key, focussing on her singing and playing guitar, yet with lots of surprises. Definitely more than your everyday concert, and yet just a taste of Aura, an ambitious young woman that will take the world by storm. (source: www.aura-dione.de)