Austra
The project of Canadian singer/songwriter, producer, and composer Katie Stelmanis, Austra combines her classical training and passion for electronic music into imaginative, emotive art-pop. Stelmanis' operatic vocals and the conceptual nature of her songwriting have helped her music evolve over the years. On the shadowy grooves of 2011's Feel It Break, Austra seemed to be a purveyor of dark electro-pop along the lines of Fever Ray, but 2014's confessional Olympia proved there was a lighter, softer side to Stelmanis' music. From there, the eerily prescient dystopian musings of 2017's Future Politics and the daring sounds and liberated mood of 2020's Hirudin revealed Austra's increasingly inventive ways of combining ambition and emotion. A classically trained vocalist and pianist who joined the Canadian Children's Opera at age ten, Stelmanis intended to pursue a career in classical music before falling in love with punk, industrial, and electronic music. In the mid-2000s, she played in the Toronto band Galaxy with drummer Maya Postepski and worked on her own electronic compositions, including music for performance artist Zeesy Powers. Thanks to Powers' encouragement to make music on her own, Stelmanis released her 2008 solo debut, Join Us, on the Blocks Recording Club label. After adding Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf (a former member of Spiral Beach), Stelmanis renamed her project. As Private Life, the group played the 2010 South by Southwest Festival and caught the attention of Domino Records, with whom Stelmanis signed a deal. When she learned of another band called Private Life, Stelmanis renamed the project again. This time, she settled on Austra, her middle name as well as the name of the Latvian goddess of light. Austra's debut single, Beat and the Pulse, arrived in early 2011, and their full-length debut, Feel It Break (most of which was recorded in Stelmanis' home studio and mixed by Damian Taylor), arrived that May. The album's dark, propulsive sound won critical acclaim that included a place on the 2011 Polaris Music Prize shortlist and a nomination for Best Electronic Album at the 2012 Juno Awards. Feel It Break also fared well commercially, reaching number 22 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Austra spent the better part of two years touring in support of Feel It Break. During that time, the remix EP Sparkle appeared, while Stelmanis began writing Austra's second album. Opting for a more collaborative musical approach and an organic sound inspired by early house music and Portishead's Third, Stelmanis and company -- which at this point included keyboardist Ryan Wonsiak and backing vocalists Romy and Sari Lightman -- recorded the album at Michigan's Key Club studio, and tracked vocals in Montreal with Taylor. Released in June 2013, Olympia charted in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S., where it hit number nine on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and number 14 on the Top Dance/Electronic albums chart. It was also a longlisted nominee for 2014's Polaris Music Prize. Austra returned in January 2017 with Future Politics, an album informed by Stelmanis' time in Montreal and Mexico City, her studies of philosophy and economics, and European club culture and electro-Cumbia. Recorded with the core lineup of Stelmanis, Postepski, and Wolf, the album was Austra's highest charting to date, reaching number 29 on the U.K. Independent Albums chart and number seven on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. For Austra's fourth album, Stelmanis took a different tack and worked with an entirely new set of collaborators. These included co-producers Rodaidh McDonald and Joseph Shabason, classical improv group c_RL, and the cellist and kamanche duo Kamancello. Named after the powerful anticoagulant secreted by leeches, Hirudin -- a reflective yet danceable exploration of toxic relationships -- appeared in May 2020.© Heather Phares /TiVo Read more
The project of Canadian singer/songwriter, producer, and composer Katie Stelmanis, Austra combines her classical training and passion for electronic music into imaginative, emotive art-pop. Stelmanis' operatic vocals and the conceptual nature of her songwriting have helped her music evolve over the years. On the shadowy grooves of 2011's Feel It Break, Austra seemed to be a purveyor of dark electro-pop along the lines of Fever Ray, but 2014's confessional Olympia proved there was a lighter, softer side to Stelmanis' music. From there, the eerily prescient dystopian musings of 2017's Future Politics and the daring sounds and liberated mood of 2020's Hirudin revealed Austra's increasingly inventive ways of combining ambition and emotion.
A classically trained vocalist and pianist who joined the Canadian Children's Opera at age ten, Stelmanis intended to pursue a career in classical music before falling in love with punk, industrial, and electronic music. In the mid-2000s, she played in the Toronto band Galaxy with drummer Maya Postepski and worked on her own electronic compositions, including music for performance artist Zeesy Powers. Thanks to Powers' encouragement to make music on her own, Stelmanis released her 2008 solo debut, Join Us, on the Blocks Recording Club label. After adding Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf (a former member of Spiral Beach), Stelmanis renamed her project. As Private Life, the group played the 2010 South by Southwest Festival and caught the attention of Domino Records, with whom Stelmanis signed a deal. When she learned of another band called Private Life, Stelmanis renamed the project again. This time, she settled on Austra, her middle name as well as the name of the Latvian goddess of light.
Austra's debut single, Beat and the Pulse, arrived in early 2011, and their full-length debut, Feel It Break (most of which was recorded in Stelmanis' home studio and mixed by Damian Taylor), arrived that May. The album's dark, propulsive sound won critical acclaim that included a place on the 2011 Polaris Music Prize shortlist and a nomination for Best Electronic Album at the 2012 Juno Awards. Feel It Break also fared well commercially, reaching number 22 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Austra spent the better part of two years touring in support of Feel It Break. During that time, the remix EP Sparkle appeared, while Stelmanis began writing Austra's second album. Opting for a more collaborative musical approach and an organic sound inspired by early house music and Portishead's Third, Stelmanis and company -- which at this point included keyboardist Ryan Wonsiak and backing vocalists Romy and Sari Lightman -- recorded the album at Michigan's Key Club studio, and tracked vocals in Montreal with Taylor. Released in June 2013, Olympia charted in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S., where it hit number nine on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and number 14 on the Top Dance/Electronic albums chart. It was also a longlisted nominee for 2014's Polaris Music Prize.
Austra returned in January 2017 with Future Politics, an album informed by Stelmanis' time in Montreal and Mexico City, her studies of philosophy and economics, and European club culture and electro-Cumbia. Recorded with the core lineup of Stelmanis, Postepski, and Wolf, the album was Austra's highest charting to date, reaching number 29 on the U.K. Independent Albums chart and number seven on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. For Austra's fourth album, Stelmanis took a different tack and worked with an entirely new set of collaborators. These included co-producers Rodaidh McDonald and Joseph Shabason, classical improv group c_RL, and the cellist and kamanche duo Kamancello. Named after the powerful anticoagulant secreted by leeches, Hirudin -- a reflective yet danceable exploration of toxic relationships -- appeared in May 2020.
© Heather Phares /TiVo
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HiRUDiN
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on May 1, 2020
After a politically engaged third album released three years ago (Future Politics), Katie Stelmanis, the brain behind Austra, has gone for a different ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Olympia
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Jun 17, 2013
Hi-Res AudioDuring the lengthy Feel It Break tour, Austra expanded from a trio to a six-piece, which allowed for more interplay among the band. This expansiveness ...
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Spellwork
Austra
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on Sep 5, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Habitat
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Jun 16, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beat And The Pulse
Austra
Pop/Rock - Released by Domino Recording Co on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Planningto Risk It (Planningtorock Remix)
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Oct 29, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Future Politics
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Jan 19, 2017
After Austra's Olympia tour finished, Katie Stelmanis moved to Montreal for a change of pace that ended up feeling more like solitary confinement than ...
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Feel It Break (Deluxe Version)
Austra
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on May 17, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Feel It Break
Austra
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on May 16, 2011
Austra's Katie Stelmanis fits right in with the resurgence of dark electronic songstresses in the late 2000s/early 2010s, sharing the aloof beauty of ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
HiRUDiN REMiXED
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Nov 16, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Olympia
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Jun 16, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Am Not Waiting (Claptone Remix)
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Aug 6, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mountain Baby
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Apr 16, 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Forgive Me
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Nov 25, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mountain Baby (Octo Octa's Contemplation Mix)
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Nov 12, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Risk It
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Jan 29, 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lose It
Austra
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on May 24, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Change The Paradigm
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Dec 12, 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Am Not Waiting (Shura Remix)
Austra
Electronic - Released by Domino Recording Co on Aug 27, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo