10 Years Later, AURORA Opens Up On The Songs, Stories, And Journey Behind Her Debut Album

AURORA: The moth has always been one of my favorite bugs since I was a child. I just love the way they look, and how they are like the more shy, under-appreciated version of the butterfly — less colorful, but also so colorful if you just pay a bit of attention.

I’ve always had a really big place for them in my heart, and for what the moth can symbolize; it can mean decay, it can mean rebirth, it can mean death. It can mean so much. So it was very important to me that the moth, and also the wolf, became the two animals to represent my first album.

BuzzFeed: Do you remember how you made the album cover?

AURORA: I found this woman who took all these amazing, ethical pictures of moth wings. I really loved that she mainly focused on moths while doing her art, rather than butterflies. So I was like, “We’re going to do something with her!”

I always knew that I wanted to be kind of dull, you know, and gray and not so colorful on the cover. So we just wrapped me in all this weird fabric, and I had to make sure my feet looked like I was floating in the air. It took around an hour, I think, and then the nice lady edited the wings on after — but it’s a real moth, and I think it’s from Australia.

BuzzFeed: I remember the art really captivated me. I heard one song on YouTube, saw you were coming to NYC two weeks later, and we got to say hi after the show. I’ve been a fan ever since!

AURORA: That’s so sweet! I love that we got to meet like that.