A Touch of the Divine

## Aurora Gigography 2022 – The Gods We Can Touch Tour

***A Touch of the Divine*** was a "conceptual live experience". A ticketed, recorded live show webcasted on January 25, 2022, to mark the release of Aurora's fourth studio album *The Gods We Can Touch*.

It featured several songs from the album and interludes of poetry read by Aurora, filmed in a cinematic, choreographed setting.

## About the project

This is what Aurora had to say about *A Touch of the Divine* in the introduction:

> "I think it's rare to have the opportunity to show your music live, but within a controlled space like this, so you can truly create something of a dream world, like a little ... what is it called, when you mix a robot and a human ... cyborg, like a little cyborg of like the real world and dreamland. That's how I feel doing this. And also, I think people's visual education is much more evolved than the way we understand sound. And I'm just really grateful to get the chance to show people how the music looks in like a perfect world, cyborg world.
>
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> It started all out with an idea of how we can present my ... a few songs from my child, my third child, to the world and make it really special and unique, so it doesn't sound remotely like anything else we'll do on tour, to make it really special. And then I teamed up with some beautiful people and found a director that could help me put it all together and make it just right. It's going to be ... it's been very organic.
>
>
> I'm going to play six songs from the album, mostly because I think those are the six songs that will get the least attention from the world. And it's always my favorite songs that kind of [get] forgotten a bit, but maybe that's also why I love them so much, because they need their mother's love a bit more. So, I'm very excited to kind of force the world to look at them, look at these strange songs in the way that I want people to look at them. They're definitely the songs that are closest to my heart and I'm very ... it makes me calm to know that I'll be able to preserve them, or one version of them, in this room and it will stay here forever even after I ... I'm gone. And it's a weird feeling knowing that, it's ... makes me very calm, like I would be okay to die the day after the livestream has been filmed, not really, but kind of, because at least I saved something important that is everlasting, which is nice.
>
>
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> All of the songs represent something very important that I'm trying to tell you, all of you, from this album. I try the best I can to gather all the different points of view or the different questions that I feel are important to ask into this livestream, to give you the full experience, I guess, of what I think should be a touch of the divine."
>
>

## Tracklist

1. "Exhale Inhale"
2. "Giving In to the Love"
Poetry interlude #1
3. "The Forbidden Fruits of Eden"
4. "Heathens"
Poetry interlude #2
5. "A Temporary High"
Poetry interlude #3
6. "A Little Place Called the Moon"

## Poetry

**Poetry interlude #1**

Why did we ever put God up in the sky?

Somewhere so far away

Removing him from the earth

From our people, our rivers and our mountains

Why can't Heaven be here on Earth?

So the wonder of life don't have to be a trial of redemption

And the wonders of the world not a trial of temptation

What if we didn't have to look up

But only to the closest thing next to us?

With the divine belonging to all of us

And for all of us to touch

Maybe then would we see how worthy we are

And how worthy every stranger, every lover

Every stone and drop of water

How worthy it all is of life

**Poetry interlude #2**

She's in the earth, but she's not a corpse

She's a mother in bloom, but she's not a flower

For she does not reach towards the Sun

Below, she is the Sun

And what is lost in the shadow will be touched by her light

And with her we will drink

And with her we will feast

There is beauty in our beast

In the flesh, in the fruit, and the blood in the wine

**Poetry interlude #3**

I see it so clearly now, when I close my eyes

I see endings and beginnings

I see stars disappear and reappear as the world spins

And somewhere far out there, I see you and me

Experiencing life through its many eyes

Walking down the same road

Dancing in the same rooms

Kissing under the same trees

Existing everywhere, in everything

We're all here

We're all going

We're all going to the Moon

Transcribed by listening.

## The Sacred and the Profane

A viewing party with a screening of the film was held at Ham Yard Hotel, London, United Kingdom. Aurora came on for a Q&A (dubbed *The Sacred and the Profane*), which was livestreamed.

## Videos

The event was webcasted and a replay video was available for 24 hours for ticket holders. The film was later published by cinematographer Kia Fern Little and the full event including *The Sacred and the Profane* by Mercury Studios.

## Credits

* Director - Alexandra Green
* Produced by - Bullion Productions, Mercury Studios
* Choreographer - Liv Lockwood
* DOP - Kia Fern
* Production designer - Sarah Asmail
* Editor - Fin Melluish
* Dancer - Sharia Johnson
* Dancer - Louisa Fernando
* Dancer - Chihiro Kawasaki
* Dancer - Jahmarley Bachelor
* Dancer - Jem Bentham
* Dancer - Amy Hollinshead

## Trivia

* The advertising campaign featured photos by Xin Li and clips from the set of the album photoshoot.
* "Artemis" mocktails and "Prometheus" cocktails were served at the viewing party.
* Although mentioned as "live" in several places, this was not a typical one-take live session. It was recorded over the course of a 12-hour day in 2021, then edited to an artistic, coherent film before being webcast. The exact recording date is unknown.
* An image from this recording was later used for the cover art of "The Devil Is Human".
* This was the second Aurora event webcast by Moment House, the other was *Exist for Love Sessions*.
* The video was nominated for a UK Music Video Award in the category Best Live Video, but lost to "I Wish It Was Me" by Obongjayar.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220126042332/https://www.momenthouse.com/aurora (archived from original)
2. ↑ https://www.lbbonline.com/news/alexandra-green-presents-a-touch-of-the-divine-for-artist-aurora
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://kiafernlittle.com/aurora
4. ↑ https://mercurystudios.tv/catalogue/programme/aurora-a-touch-of-the-divine
5. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/iamAURORA/videos/441052991045904
6. ↑ https://kiafernlittle.com/kflcv-1
7. ↑ https://2022.ukmva.com/winners-special-video/