Album Review: Austra - Olympia

Austra
Olympia
Rating: Grrrr

Canadian electronic act Austra arrive in 2011 with an intriguing debut record Feel It Break, featuring the classically trained operatic vocals of Katie Stelmanis, which set them apart from a lot of emerging bands. While I liked the album a lot, especially the throbbing first single "Beat and the Pulse," the rest of the record felt a little too rigid and cold, interesting sketches that needed to be filled out more. With new record Olympia, Austra feels a little looser and engaging, putting forth a collection of songs that are still cerebral but also feel like the band is having fun, and not putting forth some clinical project. Stelmanis' vocals, which are a formidable instrument, work with the tracks instead of against them; too often on Feel It Break they overtook the music, creating a harsh conflict.

Glitchy electronic rumblings form the basis for lead track "What We Done?" as dark synths and flutes rise from the murk, each new element adding forcefully to the track as Stelmanis' piercing vocals reign over it all. When the beats kick in, the track takes on new life, with all the elements coming together under synth swells.



There is a lightness and airiness to the production this go around which adds better flow and pacing to the record, more traditional percussion and analog instruments add to this effect. And the tracks are definitely more dancefloor oriented this go around. While there were some danceable tracks on Feel It Break, for the most part they were more atmospheric than beat driven. Here, you get the playful bounce of "Painful Like,"



the sultry throb of "Annie (Oh Muse, You),"



and the bright synth lines, bass wobbles, and strings of "Forgive Me."



But there are many more exquisite tracks on Olympia that focus less on the dancefloor and more on atmosphere and texture. Album highlight "We Become" is a striking midtempo track drawing from reggae and Balearic music, casting a lovely, lilting sense of loneliness and aching to the album, Stelmanis' vocals absolutely heartbreaking in its tenderness.



While several tracks highlight Stelmanis' amazing vocal chops with the music almost incidental to her war cries, like the steady build of "You Changed My Life,"



the angelic choir of "Hurt Me Now,"



or the deep electro pulse of "Sleep," with Stelmanis focusing on her lower registers as the music whirls around her.



Olympia builds off the foundations of Feel It Break and gives new life and trajectory to Austra's sound. The tracks don't feel isolated from each other, but work off one another, breathing with life and energy. The addition of more traditional instruments and warmer analog synth sounds also helps create a fuller, more inviting set of tracks. Olympia is an excellent step in the right direction for this up and coming act; definitely check it out.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Jam of the Day: Austra - "We Become"

Gorgeous track off the band's upcoming album Olympia. This reggae-tinged song has a lovely, subtle sense of sadness to it, that of course drew me in quickly.

Bryan Ferry: Olympia

Bryan Ferry
Olympia
Rating: Meh

A new album from rock legend Bryan Ferry is always something to anticipate, especially when it is his first since 2002's Frantic to feature original material.  With Olympia, Ferry returns, not so much at the top of his game, but hitting a nice stride utilizing his seductive tenor and atmospheric productions to mostly good effect.  Where he trips up is letting the atmosphere get a little too heavy at times, forgetting that sometimes less is more.

Olympia starts off strongly with his best single in years, "You Can Dance."



The song is sexy, and slinky, recounted the travails of a long night of clubbing.  The song teeters on the edge of being too full (really Bryan, do you need to have three bassists on the track when one would do?), but never falls off the fence.

Again, where he balances that line perfectly, it makes for some stunning music.  Whether it is the Euro-cool stylings of "Alphaville,"



or the almost harsh backbeats and rave synth grind of Groove Armada produced "Shameless"



Ferry shows he still knows how to pick a producer that accentuates his many talents.  Where he falters, is when he overshadows that bond, either with the pale and limp collaboration with Scissor Sisters, "Heartache By Numbers,"



or two completely horrendous and unnecessary covers.  The first is the overblown and overstuffed cover of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" which This Mortal Coil covered to perfection with Elizabeth Frazier of the Cocteau Twins.  Here, Ferry appears to create a mashup of "Slave to Love" and "Avalon," and just keeps adding too much to a song that needs delicate backing.



Or the second cover, of Traffic's "No Face, No Name, Number," which slides along glacially on autopilot, with barely a pulse or heart.



By the time he gets to a more upbeat track, "BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)," featuring Flea on bass, it is almost too late to save the album, with the track beginning promisingly, then getting mired with too many female diva backing vocalist histrionics.



Finally, he returns to a more minimal palette on the final two songs, which redeems Olympia from being a total washout.  The atmospheric and textured "Reason or Rhyme," brings Ferry back to the grandeur of his days with Roxy Music.



And "Tender Is The Night," ends Ferry's dusk til dawn party going journey in a meditative place:



I really wanted to love Olympia and I have been torn back and forth between liking it and feeling indifferent to it.  Ferry has a lock on this sort of sound: the world-weary crooner, making it through another evening of parties in fabulous places, a La Dolce Vita for the 2000s.  He surrounded himself with a top notch group of producers (Dave Stewart, Brian Eno) and an amazing group of musicians (Flea, Mani, Johnny Greenwood, Phil Manzera, Scissor Sisters) and yet he made them all sound like session players.  Although the album is exquisitely produced and sounds great, it felt very paint by numbers.  I have heard all this before, ever since Ferry's classic album Boys and Girls,  and was really looking for him to stretch a bit and try something different.  With Olympia we get standard issue Bryan Ferry, which, like most fashions, will get you through a long stretch, but doesn't really stand out in the crowd.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.