{"id":1866,"date":"2011-06-21T11:58:04","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T17:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=1866"},"modified":"2011-06-21T11:58:04","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T17:58:04","slug":"austra-feel-it-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2011\/06\/21\/austra-feel-it-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Austra – Feel It Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nIt\u2019s hard not to draw comparisons between Austra\u2019s debut and Hercules and the Love Affair. And it\u2019s not that they even sound alike. Austra\u2019s not even remotely disco. But Feel It Break<\/em> picks up on what were H&LA\u2019s strongest aspects: the Antony-helmed tracks that positioned flawless, operatic vocals against strong electronic beats, too rhythmic to really be sorrowful, too emotionally resonant to be pigeonholed as just a dancefloor staple. It\u2019s not a bad place to be, at all. Katie Stelmanis\u2019s vocals are stunning, weaving effortlessly from aching vibrato to choir-like highs to echoed and breathy, and looped to the point where she\u2019s often harmonizing with different manifestations of her own voice, which she\u2019s damn good at. The synthetic beats are gentle rather than forceful, cradling Stelmanis\u2019s voice for a seamless effect. \u201cLose It\u201d is Feel It Break<\/em>\u2019s most powerful track, and features one of the loveliest, most angelic all-vowel bridges I\u2019ve heard in a long time \u2014 and let\u2019s be honest, those really are everywhere. It\u2019s heartful, pleading and upbeat all at once. Synths and mixers let up at the end of the piano-driven \u201cThe Beast,\u201d a distinctly visual number that could function as a soundtrack to a fairytale in and of itself. \u201cBeat and the Pule\u201d \u2014 the lyrics of which the album title is derived from \u2014 is dark and atmospheric, and more than lives up to its name. \u201cHate Crime\u201d and \u201cThe Choke\u201d are hauntingly intimate, blending sorrowful vocals with twinkling synths. If this doesn\u2019t end up on my end of year \u201cBest Of,\u201d you\u2019re welcome to slap me. (Paper Bag Records, www.paperbagrecords.com<\/a>) Brietta O\u2019Leary<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard not to draw comparisons between Austra\u2019s debut and Hercules and the Love Affair. And it\u2019s not that they even sound alike. Austra\u2019s not even remotely disco. But Feel It Break picks up on what were H&LA\u2019s strongest aspects: the Antony-helmed tracks that positioned flawless, operatic vocals against strong electronic beats, too rhythmic to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-1866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-austra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}