It’s been some time since we heard anything new from Austra, but the cut glass vocals of Katie Stelmanis are back. A Scion Sessions performance on Youtube is the platform for new track ‘Painful Like’. Katie hasn’t really got her teeth into any new writing yet but it seems that this track is successfully emulating the synth-pop of debut album Feel It Break, while still offering something different. The sound is crisp and elegant. Synth pulses throughout, rich vocal layers build on the simple beat. It’s a bit more delicate than some of the tracks from the first album (notably the slightly darker ‘Beat And The Pulse’) and its reminiscent of 80s electro-pop. One element sounds suspiciously like the memorable base line to Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’. 1979 electro-pop then. Whatever.
Second albums can make or break a band, but if ‘Painful Like’ is anything to go by, we are hoping for great things from the Canadian trio’s follow up.
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By Maddie Russell
Dance Yrself Clean
