“I’m so chaotic in love,” sings Katie Austra Stelmanis on “Amnesia,” the cinematic opening track of Chin Up Buttercup, the fifth album by her alter ego and longtime pop project Austra. You know Austra’s astonishing voice – singular and operatic, it betrays a fearlessness and sophistication. She’s the woman you’d be afraid to approach in a bar. Her voice draws you like a siren to the dance floor as the beats build toward the hypnotic chorus of “my life is not the same without you in my arms.” Listen closely and you’ll hear a vulnerability that sets this album apart from her earlier work. This is a grief album you can dance to.
Stelmanis and co-producer Kieran Adams shared a mutual love of pop divas, Eurodance and hard-to-find techno. Madonna’s 1998 album Ray of Light, produced by William Orbit, was a key influence in the later stages of album making: “Ray of Light was produced almost entirely on a Juno-106 and a Korg MS-20 which we’d been using, so the reference point was aligned,” says Stelmanis. The album sounds like a mix of hypnotic dance floor anthems and elegant melodies to soothe your broken heart.
A1. Amnesia
A2. Math Equation
A3. Siren Song
A4. Chin Up Buttercup
A5. Fallen Cloud
B1. Blindsided
B2. Think Twice
B3. Look Me in the Eye
B4. The Hopefulness of Dawn
B5. Good Riddance
- 1. Amnesia
- 2. Math Equation
- 3. Siren Song
- 4. Chin Up Buttercup
- 5. Fallen Cloud
- 6. Blindsided
- 7. Think Twice
- 8. Look Me in the Eye
- 9. The Hopefulness of Dawn
- 10. Good Riddance
