Austra

Austra is a Toronto, Canada electronic group active since 2009. The line-up consists of Katie Stelmanis, Maya Postepski and Dorian Wolf. The project takes its name from the Latvian goddess of light.

Early releases and debut album

The group debuts with the single “The Beat and the Pulse” on One Big Silence in 2010. Its first album, Feel It Break, follows in 2011 on Domino. Before forming the full band, Stelmanis spends nearly a decade developing her work through a series of earlier acts. Feel It Break appears on several year-end critics’ lists and is named best album of 2011 by both the Toronto Star and New York; the Toronto Star describes it as “an outright stunner”.

Subsequent albums and EP

Austra’s second album, Olympia, is released on Domino in 2013, with the single “Home” issued ahead of it. The band’s first EP, Habitat EP, follows in 2014. Its third album, Future Politics, appears in 2017.

Sound and recognition

Austra is associated with dark wave, electronic, experimental, indie pop and indietronica. The band’s sound centres on Stelmanis’ voice and uses layered synthesizers and keyboards, with songs built from urgent, dark melodies. In March 2011, Stereogum names the group a Band to Watch.