Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)

When announcing the release of her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (2016), Aurora said that it was "the first album of many" that she has planned. In an interview with Gigwise, she explained that because of most of the record was recorded a year before, its sound "feels very old" and that she had "to let things go;" she also said that the writing process of her following album had already begun. In October 2016, during a Facebook live stream, Aurora stated that she had fifteen demos and had written around a thousand songs to that date. On 30 September 2017, Aurora posted on her Instagram account that she began the production of her following album. Some of the new material was anticipated in several live performances, including festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella. Aurora travelled to La Fabrique, a farmhouse studio located in southern France, to record Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) in January 2018. The production included new producers Askjell Solstrand and Roy Kerr and Tim Bran from MyRiot, with Aurora herself also involved in this aspect. Her stay in France during the album's recording was filmed for Aurora's documentary Once Aurora. The album was mixed and mastered in Bergen, with Aurora announcing through an Instagram story on 3 April 2018 that it was finished. Aurora initially stated to Idolator in April 2018 that Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) was originally a full-length album with 11 tracks. Nevertheless, she later revealed two months later that the album was split in two parts, the first part being Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1). She acknowledged during a 2019 interview with Clash that the concept of the album "was two different aspects of one process"; she decided to use scrapped tracks from Infections of a Different Kind (Step I) for her following album. Scrapped tracks According to Aurora, forty songs were written for the album, and she chose the ones she considered to be the "best". She revealed that some of the songs "will remain unreleased for quite some time, but also a few of them will be on the album." The songs "Animal" and "The Seed" were originally written for the album but were later included in her third album A Different Kind of Human (Step 2), following the split of the record. Both songs were performed live alongside tracks from Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1). In a September 2017 interview, Aurora was unsure to add "festival songs" like "Feeling", "Soft Universe" and "In Bottles" to the tracklist of Infections of a Different Kind (Step I); "Soft Universe" was released as the album's seventh track, while "In Bottles" made it onto A Different Kind of Human (Step 2). Aside of the tracks performed live, snippets of some songs appeared in Once Aurora, with only two song titles ("Spotlight" and "Witches") appearing in the closing credits. ==Music and lyrics==

Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) has been described as a pop, with elements of synth-pop, chamber pop, folk, experimental pop, The album's sound incorporates folktronica soundscapes, vocal harmonizations, expansive reverb, layered synthesizers and tribal percussion. While maintaining some of the themes and stories of her previous album, the album marks the first time that Aurora has included themes of politics and sexuality in her music. Most of her inspiration for the record came from the interaction that she had with her fans during her first tour. ==Release and promotion==

Aurora initially wanted to release new music in November 2016, however, she noted that it was not possible due to her touring schedule in promotion of her debut album. In September of that year, she teased a possible release date in November 2017. Aurora stated in March 2018 that the album was expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2018, without giving an exact date. A trailer titled "Our Queendom Come" was released on 5 April 2017, which led fans to speculate the name as the record's title. Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) was released to digital music platforms on 28 September 2018 as a surprise release. The clip was nomitated for Music Video of the Year at the Spellemannprisen '17, eventually losing to Hkeem's "Ghettoparasitt". The song "Animal" was originally expected to be released as the second single from Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1), however it was later released as A Different Kind of Human (Step 2)s lead single in January 2019. The album's second single, "Forgotten Love", followed on 17 August 2018. A video was filmed but it was never released. However, some snippets of it appeared in a short documentary about Bergen's musical scene where Aurora was interviewed. Tour The album received further promotion from her third headlining concert tour, which started on 10 October 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom and ended on 28 May 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. == Critical reception==

Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) was met with acclaim from music critics. Jack Bray of The Line of Best Fit praised the dynamism and flexibility of Aurora's vocals and her involvement in the production of the album, remarking that she "never loses any instrument or voice in spite of the minutiae of her producing choices, as a result, a tangible sense of her personality comes through." A writer of the blog A Bit of Pop Music shared similar thoughts in regards to its songwriting and production, commending the track "All Is Soft Inside" as her "most accomplished work to date." Writing for Mystic Sons, Chris Bound agreed that "this new half-album still manages to pack one hell of a punch throughout as the frontwoman seems to take on the guise of an unstoppable juggernaut." In a less favourable review, Kieron Tyler writing for Mojo commented that the record lacked musical focus, lamenting that "Aurora herself is mostly buried in the album." Radio UTD's Zachary Royal suggested that she "matured quite quickly and is now more comfortable in her element." ==Commercial performance==

Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) debuted at number seven on the Norwegian VG-lista Topp 40 Album, marking Aurora's biggest opening week in sales ever in the country, with 5,800 units. Elsewhere in Europe, the album peaked at number 191 in the Netherlands. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies an additional producer. == Personnel ==

Credits adapted from Tidal. Musicians • Aurora Aksnesvocals (all tracks), additional vocals (1, 7), drums, keyboards (2, 3, 5, 6); percussion (1, 3, 5, 6, 7), programming (2, 3, 5, 7, 8) • Magnus Skylstaddrums, drum programming, cello, additional keyboards, percussion (1, 7); programming (1, 2, 7) • Couros Sheibanidrums, drum programming, percussion, synthesizer, programming (1, 7) • James Jacobdrums, drum programming, percussion, synthesizer, programming (1, 7) • Mathias Wangcymbal (1) • Askjellkeyboards, programming (2–5, 8) • Roy Kerrkeyboards, programming (2–5, 8) • Tim Brankeyboards, programming (2–5, 8) • Ellen Holmåscello (5, 6) • Karoline Brevikcello (5, 6) • Marit Aspåscello (5, 6) • Torleif Holmcello (5, 6) • Ruth Potterharp (5, 6) • Knut Anders Vestadstrings (5, 6) • Therese Kinzler Eriksenstrings (5, 6) • Oslo Fagottkorchoir (6) Technical • Auroraproduction (6), additional production (1, 7) • Askjellproduction (2, 3, 8), additional production (4) • MyRiotproduction (2–5, 8) • Courosproduction (1, 7) • Jakwobproduction (1, 7) • Electricproduction (6) • Magnus Skylstadadditional production (1, 2, 5, 7), mixing, engineering (all tracks) • Javed Kurdvocal production (6) • Steinar Svendsenvocal production (6) • Mark Bishopengineering (1) • Daniel Cayoteengineering (2, 3, 5, 8) • Hervé Le Guilengineering (2, 3, 5, 8) • Jo Ranheimengineering (6) • Peer Espen Ursfjordengineering (6) • Morgane Mayolletengineering assistance (2, 3, 5, 8) • Chris Sansommastering (1–6, 8) • Alex Whartonmastering (7) ==Charts==