Originating from Naenae in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand, Albert Mikolaj (aka A.U.R.A) was transformed by a life-changing detour through South America, A.U.R.A, his solo project, is the dream canvas. “To me, the aura is some kind of glossy translucent cocoon that coexists as a necessary artifice between audience and performer”.
Sonically described as “lucid, melodious dream music”, Aura features Ben Lemi (FFR, Trinity Roots) Deanne Krieg (Ida Lune) and Samuel Austin. The music conveys an enchanting hybrid of Neil Young with slight aural echoes of Bon Iver and Sharon Van Etten. It’s also our Song of the Day. Talking to us about the track Albert added
“I and Nico worked with the notion of a slender thread weaving between the sound and vision of this piece, cradling a nuanced dance of heart and mind.” The timeless quality of the video perfectly conveys that dance, simply beautiful.
BIO:
Living in Buenos Aires in a communal experiment called El Todo Rojo (meaning The Red Awning) with 9 other artists, musicians and dancers, Mikołaj spent his days writing, making music and playing intimate venues. “We were a family of misfit artists. I was not a tourist, I was a brother,” Albert describes. Playing with local artists such as Ezequiel Borra and Lola Membrillo (Perota Chingo), Mikołaj’s trajectory and identity as an artist profoundly expanded. “The love and affinity I experienced gave me the confidence to transcend New Zealand sound and to become a world artist.”
The ideas that were born in Buenos Aires feature thematically throughout Mikołaj’s future work, Anima Rising (2013), Conference of the Birds (2015), and Tender Rage (2016). Albert’s once stripped back acoustic guitar and vocals have organically evolved into grandiose sonic textures while maintaining the pastoral folk roots of his mindful songwriting. A.U.R.A’s upcoming work Secret Intelligent Light, produced by Ben Lemi of French for Rabbits, is due for release via his Los Angeles based record label Cosmic Dreamer…
The album draws inspiration from David Lynch’s philosophy, which explores and engages the use of dreams as a means for catching ideas. Secret Intelligent Light explores themes of ethereal light, primal birth and androgyny, and is, according to Mikołaj, “a humble attempt to mine at the truth.”
His reflections of love for the works of Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Tracey Chapman provide the backbone of emotional depth and vulnerability to a record whose spirit echoes that of Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver. With Secret Intelligent Light, A.U.R.A has carefully crafted a celestial landscape that is knocking at the door of shared spirituality in an effort to continue traversing his personal understanding of existence.
Perhaps Albert’s philosophy can be summed up from an excerpt from the song The Winged Heart (Tender Rage, 2016):
Given all the dead prosperity and all the things we can’t address, I found the decision to give song in Grandmother’s chest, Wings.
Secret Intelligent Light comes out March 8th on Cosmic Dreamer, a boutique label in Los Angeles.