Austra - Olympia

In 2011 the Canadian 3-piece released their debut album Feel It Break which was a dark and moody electronic album, it had sad overtones, which tremble into Olympia. The album, whilst having a generally more up beat sound to it, does have it’s darker moments, like on album opener “What We Done”, which is one of the better songs on the album. Austra remain electronic, despite the heavy piano usage throughout the album. Even with greater use of piano, the album still manages to feel dancy. After, “What We Done”, it’s not until “Home” where the album picks itself up from mediocrity. The songs in between feel a bit tired. “Home” uses the sounds of the piano well like “The Beast” did on Feel it Break. “I Don’t Care (I’m a Man)” is soft and gentle, but it feels to short, more like an interlude, and I wish it was longer because it is one of the stronger ideas that feature on the album. The album from there turns up the “dance” but then also brings in more quiet piano, a theme in the album that sits slightly uneasily with me, it seems like they want to make a dance album, but they want to have the elegance that a piano brings, I’m not to sure. By far, the best song along with “Home” is “Hurt Me Now”, which surprised me in being the last track. It feels like a song from Feel it Break, or I should rather say, it feels like what Olympia should have been. It’s that right transition in sound, it’s not as dark, but not to quiet, it’s lively, you can dance to it, but it’s not confused. I just wish the rest of the album was this focused. Overall, Austra bring a mixed bag for album number two, but one that can still be enjoyed, even though there is that thought of “What could have been?”