AUSTRA PAINFUL LIKE (XXXY REMIX)

Last time I chatted about anything to do with Austra it was in relation to the new video for their hauntingly dark electropop song 'Forgive Me' – a dirty, modern-day fairytale of absolution. This time around though, it's not just Canadian band Austra standing centre stage – nope, their song 'Painful Like' has been given a hard-edged, club-infiltrating rework by London musicmaker xxxy, or perhaps it's XXXY or even Xxxy. Whatever. In any case, he's done the remix and it's a good one.

Strangely I haven't heard much from xxxy since, well, since I last wrote about his song 'Taking Me Higher' in April this year. I first got onto xxxy though thanks to Spotify – so all the people who say Spotify is good-for-nothing, or evil, or whatever, can just quell their crazed, hype-fuelled anger. Cause Spotify can be a good way to discover artists you've never heard of. Like xxxy for me like two years ago. His song 'Ordinary Things', and other garage-tinged jams like it, hit a very grateful nerve in my body and my spirit and they're often in my memory.

This is like... 3 months old, but I'm sure there are still people who haven't heard it. Like me. Whoops. Haha. Lol. Are you ok with this?

In any case, xxxy's remix of Austra's 'Painful Like' – originally a Kraftwerk-flavoured foray into four-on-the-floor electropop – is not garage but more like electro-disco. It keeps the original's mid-bass melody but gives it some distorted bite, adding raw disco hi-hats and dollops of synth – in the form of dynamic-forming swirls of sound or ambient mist-like swathes that keep up the atmosphere. As the track progresses, the bassline becomes more and more inflected with shining treble; all the while, the voice of Katie Stelmanis (singer of Austra), is treated with respect, weaving through the song soaked with reverb, allowed to breathe on its own.

It's in the second half of the song where things start getting busy. Flute synth leads soar over the top of everything for a dark, voidsome melody and waves of sound begin rising up towards the end, all elements coming together for a perfect finale to a remix that pays homage to the original song, adding to it what he feels – I assume – needs adding for his more dance-oriented version.

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AUSTRA FORGIVE ME

Described as two souls seeking and finding forgiveness in each other, this new video for 'Forgive Me' by Canadian electropop band Austra depicts the shady nightlife of a park. I gotta say, I know that some parks ARE like this or at least I've heard about it. I've never been in a park like that - well, clearly not at the right (or wrong?) time. In any case, it's a strange choice this track which feels a lot more personal than these anonymous sex acts but I suppose forgiveness, or the desire to be forgiven, is not always directed at one person or thing: some people feel like they need the world itself to forgive them. They need a general kind of absolution for their own guilt. Maybe?

Instantly, this track is wholly danceable, featuring a pacing 4/4 beat with meaty snare, occasional hi-hats and woodblock decoration, evoking a disco beat. bass guitar fragments underpin the beat, yet there's a darkness here with rumbles of twisted synth bass crunching up above the clicking percussion and simpering organs that give this a decidedly plaintive feel. Sharp, tormented strings make a brief appearance, summoning a sadness alongside a rising tide of gooey bass. Of course, by its very title this track is apologetic and its not only illustrated by the music but by the vocals too.

Especially by the vocals. Whether they are deliciously layered or singing solo, it's clear that the voice - which is the voice of lead singer Katie Stelmanis - can not only carry a note but also carry emotion, too. Her distinct lilt first makes itself known in the first few seconds of the song, where it trembles with a frustration inherent in the pleading lyrics: "What do I have to do to make you forgive me?" It echoes with guilt yet there's a smootheness there, aimed at placating whomever the lyrics are aimed at. 'Forgive Me' stands as a progression within electropop, fusing a minimalist disco sensibility with gifted vocals for the creation of a thoughtful or reflective atmosphere on the dancefloor.

This comes from Austra's Summer-released second album Olympia and it'll be released as a single on 25th November.

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AUSTRA HOME [VIDEO] // BEAT AND THE PULSE

When I heard the first few bars of this song I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. I have to admit I hadn't heard of Austra before, so I had literally no idea what expect.

In 'Home', we're graced with singer Katie Stelmatis's vocals which are controlled-yet-teetering-on-the-verge-of-tears, suiting the lyrics, "You know that it hurts me when you don't come home at night". What's most evident in the song is how it turns from a potentially regular piano-driven Marina and the Diamonds kind of affair, into one that seems to be aping house music more than anything else.

And it's great: not too hectic, refrains cut up and placed like samples in strategic locales of the song, nice voice, good beat, catchy melodies, interest during the last half of the song with ethnic-style sounds. This is definitely something that I could get on board with.

Have a listen below. The video, whilst I'm not sure exactly how it relates to the song (am I stupid?) at all, is interesting too.

Then I saw that the band had released a video on YouTube even more recently than this one. But it actually turns out it's an old video for a song called 'Beat and the Pulse' from their first album - Feel It Break (2011) - edited because of nudity or whatever. Naturally, I found the original video. It's weird. See for yourself. Webbed hands an that.

But the music. This is a much more electro-fuelled song, with bulging synths and ghostly vocals that float over the top of the pounding drums. The song title definitely has it right, there's both beat and pulse in the vibe of this one. There is, however, a more basic sound to it that new song 'Home' has definitely dusted away and tuned up for a more interesting and multi-faceted sound that suits what they seem (at least) to be aiming for stylistically with their dream-like realist electro-pop. Nice!

'Home' comes from upcoming album Olympia, out 17th June on Domino.

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