Named for the Latvian goddess of light, Austra is an electronic band from Toronto, ON, Canada comprising Katie Stelmanis (principal songwriter, singer and keyboardist), drummer Maya Postepski , and bassist Dorian Wolf. Their debut album, “Feel It Break” came after a long sequence of bands for Stelmanis, representing a near ten-year musical progression performing as an artist. She is a classically trained vocalist and pianist who joined the Canadian Children’s Opera at age ten and intended on pursuing a career in classical music before falling in love with punk, industrial, and electronic music.  ‘Feel It Break’ won widespread critical acclaim, sparking an international tour.

Olympia, Austra’s sophomore album is out on June 18th. It’s so close, and I can’t wait! This album features Austra working in full collaborative mode. I feel bad for listening to this as soon as it leaked but I couldn’t resist. 
I didn’t think they’d be able to make anything better than ‘Feel It Break’ but holy shit I think they did! It took a minute for it to grow on me but now I can’t stop listening to it. This album showcases Katie Stelmanis’ massive voice and increasingly personal lyrics, it’s completely spell bounding. She is the mistress of melodic, neo-goth drama yet accessible dance beats.

Overall I do think it’s better than ‘Feel It Break’, but they’re both amazing albums in their own right, and having listened to it for the past month can definitely say it’s my favourite of the year. So, so good!

The song that got me hooked to this band originally, Lose it, off “Feel It Break”

The two singles currently released off Olympia, Home and Painfully Like: