After
Austra
's
Olympia
tour finished,
Katie Stelmanis
moved to Montreal for a change of pace that ended up feeling more like solitary confinement than solitude. However, the unexpected isolation may have been a blessing in disguise for her music:
Future Politics
is a direct, affecting set of songs about intimacy, technology, and above all, hope. The group strips back a bit from
's lavish sounds, trimming down from a six-piece to the trio of
Stelmanis
, drummer
Maya Postepski
, and bassist/sound designer
Dorian Wolf
. Though there's nothing superfluous here,
's influences are wide-ranging, spanning Star Trek,
Naomi Klein
, and electro cumbia (a discovery
made after leaving Montreal for Mexico City), which leaves its stamp on the haunting finale, "43," a song inspired by the 2014 kidnapping and massacre of 43 men in the Mexican city of Iguala. By acknowledging darkness,
makes her idealism that much brighter -- a duality she uses brilliantly on
. She channels it through her vocals and beats, the forces driving
's music since "The Beat and the Pulse." The delicate waver in her voice does a lot of heavy lifting, carrying the pain of the present and hope for the future on songs like the slow-burning opener "We Were Alive" and "Utopia," where her tentative optimism is more poignant and powerful than a straightforward anthem. Later, the operatic purity of her high notes adds to the uncanniness of "I'm a Monster," while her tender delivery on "I Love You More Than You Love Yourself" reaffirms that no matter how conceptual it gets,
's music always has a personal element. The rhythms that animate
are just as expressive, adding defiant danceability to the title track, a crisp edge to "Gaia"'s swooning chorus, and an alluringly mechanical sensuality to "Angel in Your Eye."
may have traded some of
Feel It Break
's compelling rawness for a more polished approach on
, but
' rare balance of poise and intensity makes it their most accomplished and emotionally satisfying album yet. [
was also released in a vinyl LP edition with a digital download card.] ~ Heather Phares