Aurora Hentunen - Little Further (2024) [Hi-Res]

Aurora Hentunen’s third album, Little Further, draws from global uncertainty and a strange sense of collective loneliness. In the tracks The Last Ones and Letter, Hentunen also explores dramatic, apocalyptic themes. The text of the latter is part of a letter written with the help of ChatGPT. Despite all the gloom, the album’s title suggests that the music still clings to hope for a better tomorrow, possibly visible on the horizon. The album includes a duo track, Gray Waves, featuring GRAMMY-winning bassist Linda May Han Oh (Pat Metheny Group, Vijay Iyer Trio).

The first recordings for the album took place in the fall of 2021, when Linda Oh was a guest of the Jazz Finland residency in Finland:

"Linda was really enthusiastic when I asked if she would be interested in collaborating on my upcoming album. I already had some ideas for Gray Waves, but once Linda agreed to join, I composed the piece largely with her playing and style in mind. We recorded the track at Hollywood Houses Studio in Vallila in just one day with Branislav Vlaisavljevic (the album's recording engineer, co-producer, and mixer), and we ended up choosing the first take out of two. Working with Linda was incredibly inspiring: she’s a vastly experienced professional, a fair and pleasant person who was willing to fully engage with the track and contribute her own ideas. A perfect duo partner!"

Six of the album’s tracks were recorded by Hentunen’s quintet at E-studio in Sipoo in the fall of 2022, while two tracks (The Last Ones and Letter) were recorded by Hentunen in her home studio in Helsinki.

"The Last Ones and Letter were added to the album quite late, after the other tracks had already been produced and mixed. These pieces came about spontaneously as I was improvising on keyboards. Their mood was so striking and surprised even me, so I wanted to include them on the album to bring a different texture and push the sound more toward pop production. When recording the piano for Letter, I felt it was important to preserve the immediacy of my own experience; I wanted to keep all the extra instrument sounds that are often removed in mixing.

”In recent years, it has felt as though the ground is constantly shifting under our feet. The messages in ‘The Last Ones’ and ‘Letter’ may feel quite tragic, but I think they fit the theme and message of the album by offering a different perspective as we contemplate the world of tomorrow. My friend from Amsterdam, 3D artist Nina Kay, has also created a music video for ‘The Last Ones.’

"I love creating albums as complete works, and with each one, I aim to renew my sound, bring in different textures, and explore new ways of composing. My jazz compositions are usually quite complete by the time I head to the studio, but with this album, I left a lot of open space and question marks in the sheet music because I wanted to approach the construction of the whole through post-production. I had the chance to shake up structures, tear parts out, and fill them with string arrangements, wordless vocals, and ambient sounds. The idea for this approach came while making the debut album of my other band, Meow Piglet, and I got really excited about studio work, producing, and mixing. I aspire to become a musician who can independently prepare an album all the way to mastering."