Check out Austra’s thrilling, trilling pop operatics
No one sounds quite like Austra. The Toronto synth-pop trio has cultivated an innovative sound that blends theatrical vocals with danceable electronica. On their Polaris-shortlisted 2011 album, Feel It Break, and its 2013 successor, Olympia, the band throws disparate sounds together to create a catchy, body-moving end product: there’s Afrobeat percussion, analog synthesizers and blaring horn sections, all anchored by the powerfully trilling voice of lead singer Katie Stelmanis, who trained with the Toronto Children’s Opera Company. Austra’s live shows sound like an opera and a Nine Inch Nails gig wrapped into one—only a whole lot more fun. The group takes the Opera House stage this Friday alongside Montreal glitch-pop duo Blue Hawaii, local solo songstress Petra Glynt and a Chinese opera troupe from Markham’s Soong Kam Wing Music and Arts Centre (only at an Austra gig).
Fri. Dec. 19. $21. Opera House, 735 Queen St. E., 416-466-0313, ticketweb.ca.
