LISTEN TO NEW “UTOPIA” REMIX FROM IKONIKA VIA THE FADER
TOUR DATES BEGIN JANUARY 20
FUTURE POLITICS OUT JANUARY 20 VIA PINK FIZZ RECORDS
PRE-ORDER FUTURE POLITICS : CD/LP / ITUNES
“Stelmanis’ personal satisfaction derives from artistic validation... and having a voice...and with ‘Utopia’” she’s found both in the form of a steely cold and cascading swirl of a track. One that’s anthemic, too, in a way that encourages you to find your own resolve, as well.”
- Stereogum (5 Best Songs of the Week)
“A new Austra single is a ‘stop everything that you’re doing right now’ moment.” - Silent Shout
“Now, self-proclaimed intergalactic traveler Stelmanis shows her skill as a musical storyteller, playing out a strange blend of freewheeling new wave and euphonically sweet synthpop with a falsetto so sharp it could carve you in half.” - Consequence of Sound (Top 10 Songs of the Week)
“[‘Utopia’ is] an atmospheric rumination on our relationship with
technology and its trajectory.” - NYLON
Photo credit: Renata Raksha
Austra, the recording project led by Canadian vocalist and producer Katie Stelmanis, recently announced their third full length LP Future Politics, out January 20 via Pink Fizz Records. Today, Austra announce the first leg of North American tour dates in support of the forthcoming album. The Range will be supporting for a portion of the tour, and tickets are on-sale now. See below to find a show near you, and get your tickets HERE.
Accompanying today’s tour announcement is a remix by Ikonika for Future Politics’ lead single “Utopia.”
LISTEN TO NEW “UTOPIA” REMIX FROM IKONIKA VIA THE FADER
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “UTOPIA” HERE
Future Politics, Austra’s third, and most ambitious album to date, calls for radical hope: “a commitment to replace the approaching dystopia,” says Katie Stelmanis, who leads Austra with the support of Maya Postepski (Princess Century, TR/ST), Dorian Wolf, and Ryan Wonsiak. “Not just hope in the future, but the idea that everyone is required to help write it, and the boundaries of what it can look like are both fascinating and endless. It’s not about ‘being political,’ it’s about reaching beyond boundaries, in every single field.”
Future Politics is a collection of urgent, but disciplined anthems for dancefloor and headphones, asks each of us to remember that apocalypse is not an inevitability, but the product of human decision-making. It aims for a world without borders, where human compassion and curiosity drive technological innovation rather than profit, where the necessity of labor is replaced with time for creativity and personal growth, and the terror and destruction wrought by colonialism and white supremacy is recognized as a dark age in human history. The album is radicalism distilled: to galvanic beats, gorgeous, kinetic melodies, and the vulnerable majesty of Stelmanis’s voice.
Inspired by her time living in two cities – Montreal and Mexico City – and propelled by economic and philosophical texts she was reading throughout the album’s creation, Stelmanis was driven to face the world’s ailments with positivity, purpose, and engagement, rather than detachment or despair. Inspiration also came from European club culture—Objekt, Peter Van Hoesen, Lena Willikens, and ‘90s legends like Massive Attack; in all, artists who understand the dancefloor as a source of radical ideas and radical joy.
Change, Rebecca Solnit (author, activist, environmentalist and editor at Harper’s Magazine) writes, comes from “writers, scholars, public intellectuals, social activists, and participants in social media”—also “artists, club scenes, parties, teenagers, ghettoes,” says Stelmanis. “Every single person’s idea about the future is valid and relevant, especially the freaks and the queers and the outsiders.”
Future Politics is available to pre-order now on limited edition deluxe colored vinyl with exclusive signed art print, CD, and digital download.
PRE-ORDER FUTURE POLITICS : CD/LP / ITUNES
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
01/20 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
01/21 - Montreal - Fairmount Theatre
01/24 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
01/26 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
01/27 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
01/28 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
01/29 - Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall
01/31 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In *
02/01 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West *
02/02 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa *
02/03 - Dallas, TX - Trees *
02/04 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk *
02/05 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace *
02/07 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar *
02/08 - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
02/09 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre *
02/11 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine *
02/13 - Portland, OR - Holocene *
02/14 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile *
02/17 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *
02/18 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
02/19 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
* with support from The Range
Album art photography by Renata Raksha at Luis Barragan’s Cuadra San Cristobal in La Ciudad de Mexico.
FUTURE POLITICS TRACKLIST
01 We Were Alive
02 Future Politics
03 Utopia
04 I’m A Monster
05 I Love You More Than You Love Yourself
06 Angel In Your Eye
07 Freepower
08 Gaia
09 Beyond A Mortal
10 Deep Thought
11 43