Austra

Led by composer/songwriter/producer Katie Stelmanis, Austra infuse sparkling synth-pop with the exquisite beauty and rigour of classical music. The Toronto-based Stelmanis, who grew up performing with the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus and is classically trained, initially played in a mid-2000s punk band called Galaxy and later released a solo art-pop album under her own name. Stelmanis decided to evolve the band concept, and Austra emerged in 2009. Two years later, the group released their debut, Feel It Break, which was on the shortlist for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. That was followed by 2013’s Olympia, which made waves on the U.S. charts, and 2017’s Future Politics. In 2020, Stelmanis continued to push Austra’s sound forward on HiRUDiN, which touches on Pet Shop Boys- and Florence & the Machine-calibre pop melodrama.