Austra #9 - Home

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A very much welcome back to Austra. Katie Stelmanis & Co quickly became one of my acts of 2011 after the phenomenal "Beat and the Pulse" first hit my ears in January of the same year, I saw the act a handful of times over the year and the subsequent LP Feel it Break was number five in my records of the year posts too.

In fact, I just re-read the opening paragraph of my Austra "Introducing" post. "My first musical error of 2011 was deciding to have a peaceful evening in last Monday when I could have taken a trip to Brixton to see Daughter and Austra.". Imagine that Daughter and Austra at the Windmill....

Anyway, no point dwelling on past errors, there are a many. March 2013 sees the return on the Canadian sextet with their forthcoming second album Olympia, earlier announced for release June 16/17 via Domino. The first track to be taken from it "Home" starts with almost Austra-patented choral vocals, strong and passionate as Katie calls out to a lover whose failed to return home, the big, bright melody more akin to "Lose It" than the crunching darkness that shrouded much of Feel it Break, with driving piano and electronic glitches leading a dance-floor filler full of energy and infectious spirit.

The press release states that Austra have developed from primarily the work of Katie to "a complex collaborative effort between its six members", I'll be interested to see how that transfers to the LP. The good news isn't over there either - Austra return to the UK to play London's Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on June 17th - tickets.