Honestly, I’ve never heard anything like Austra. At first my mind was quietened by what I saw as confusing artistic motives and weird unearthly sounds which I found hard to comprehend.
If you’re checking out Austra’s videos for the first time, you may feel like you have stumbled upon a taboo world of desire. Their polished hypnotic beats won’t ever let you leave.
Like a river of ambiguity, the sound was both flowing and puzzling. I heard frightening whispers and phantom cries veiled thinly by a hollow drum-machine. The music was mountainous and hypnotic. I questioned whether or not I was being indoctrinated by a foreign sphere of ideology.
As I listened to Hulluu, they repeatedly reminded me; “I took your microphone it’s in the river”. The band taunted me with childish brutality and shallow insults. The hushed voice seemed possessed, mirroring a beautiful nightmare. As I traveled through their mysterious realms of sound I realised their artistic genius. They pieced together through their music subtle warnings about the complexity of humanity and granted me with the gift of perspective.
Ethereal and abstract, they gathered sound samples unique and vague, hidden under the contrasting waves of sound. A transcendental beauty, Austra distorted reality and danced with infinity. They daringly challenged all aspects of conformity, inspiring a reflective view of society. I understood now that their sound was meant to confuse and was born to confront those who unquestoningly accepted their situation.
Ironically, Austra is the goddess of light in Latvian mythology, paralleling their mission of enlightenment and their voyage to discover truth. Habitat, their boldest single, released just this year, is characterised by the reoccurring battle Austra faces against both reality and fantasy. The cinematic soundtrack to a scary movie, a shaky balance between life and death lies beneath the earth.
A vast setting of emotion is painted upon the horizon as Austra concludes in a eulogist tone; “I want you, I need you brother”. A journey through sanity, the band has an intricate and poetic resonance to be admired and respected. Don’t miss their European tour which ends September 6th in Poland.
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