New music: Austra - Lose It

Here's something interesting: A former child opera star launches a pop career, changes her mind, recruits two like-minded musicians, signs record deal, proclaims: "All I ever wanted was to be a gay band."

That's the best potted biography I've seen in months. The singer in question is Canadian chorister Kate Stelmanis, and her new band is called Austra.

Named after the Latvian goddess of light, they're influenced by lungsmiths like Nina Simone, Roy Orbinson and Bjork. They stew those theatrical vocals with black magic and grizzly minor key synths, to create a sticky licorice twist of dancepop. Or, as the record company would have it, "a masterpiece suitable for both ritual incantations and clubs".

Either way, the descriptions aren't doing the music any justice. To quote Depeche Mode: "Words are meaningless. And forgettable." And, to quote Shannon, "Just let the music play".

So, without further ado, here's Austra's latest single, Lose It, which is out on 9th May.

Austra - Lose It


And here, for the sake of reference, is Kate's solo version from two years ago.

Katie Stelmanis - Lose It

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