Austra

Austra is the moniker of Canadian singer-songwriter Katie Stelmanis, a band and project that continuously reflects Stelmanis’s thoughts on….well, pretty much everything. The songs on the latest Austra album, Chin Up Buttercup, traverse the madness left behind after a breakup. You know the one, those breakups that not only shake us up emotionally but leave us wondering “what the hell is this life even about?” If that sounds too conventional, don’t worry, one of the last things you can ever accuse Austra of is being conventional, and this album is no exception. It’s an album that’s danceable as hell, pulsating with fun and a level of coolness you wouldn’t associate with a breakup. Rather than be a drab colour of somberness, Chin Up Buttercup explores the destabilizing madness such a shakeup can cause, and the (eventual) light you can reach on the other side. On this latest episode, I chat with Katie about how she made sense of this music and what it was like to pour this music out of her.

Bonus Episode: Keaton Kustler