Au/Ra is currently on tour in the UK, one of our team caught up with her show at King Tuts in Glasgow on May 7th, and it was also (I believe) available as a live streaming event – and she has a new single in the form of “Mad World” that I am reviewing.
Au/Ra is loosely seen as a dark pop artist, very visual, and her videos are massively popular.
I will start by sharing the press release,
“Following the realm-shifting escapism of more recent releases SWAMP, HIGH FANTASY and CRACK! where listeners are invited into imagined places and inner landscapes, Au/Ra’s version of Tears For Fears, “Mad World” shifts the lens inward exploring reality— and how it can be disorienting, fragile, and overwhelming.
Fans first experienced Au/Ra performing the track at London’s O2 Arena last year while supporting Katy Perry, where the moment landed with a hushed intensity, watch soon becoming a fan favourite with calls for the track to be released. For Au/Ra, reimagining “Mad World” felt like a natural extension of her current storytelling.”
“I really enjoy the process of reimagining songs, and I’ve always wanted to try this one,” she explains. “The song came out 40 years ago — I decided to cover it two years ago — but the message will always be relevant. Because we do, unfortunately, live in a mad world. Especially right now.”
The release marks Au/Ra’s first music of 2026 and signals the next step in a year set to further reveal her evocative storytelling, and the visual and emotional threads of her new era.”
So, as Au/Ra heads off into her European tour, she is playing some great developing artist venues here in the UK.
My review – This one has been out since February 2026 and is now available across all streaming platforms. Clearly, “Mad World” is already an iconic song, one that carries decades of emotional and cultural weight. Yet Au/Ra manages to make it distinctly her own, bringing a freshness to my ears through an eerie, dreamlike reinterpretation.
There is an unmistakable Alice in Wonderland quality to the track; you can almost imagine the Cheshire Cat lingering in the corner while it plays. Au/Ra strips the song back, shakes it loose from expectation and rebuilds it with a minimal backbeat, haunting vocals and an innate darkness that quietly pulls the listener in.
“Hello Teacher, tell me, what’s my lesson?”
What indeed? “Mad World, Mad Kings” (Shakespeare) – these are strange times and Au/Ra’s version of “Mad World” does not try to overpower the original; instead, it drifts into the shadows and quietly unsettles the listener. In a world that often does feel increasingly strange, perhaps that is exactly why this reinterpretation resonates so strongly.
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You can stream music from Au/Ra here
By Stevie Ritson
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