Review – AUSTRA: “Chin Up Buttercup”

Katie Stelmanis, Canadian born in '85 and thinking mind and singer of Austra, transforms personal trauma into confessional synthpop with “Chin Up Buttercup”, her first album in five years.

The abrupt end of a long relationship in 2020 fuels a record poised between emotional catharsis and dance floor ritual.

Musically, Stelmanis isn't limited to pain. His writing punctuates the emotional cycle of loss – denial, conflict, acceptance – and intertwines it with arrangements inspired by Eurodance and 90s trance, recalling Björk, Madonna and that narrative in a pop key.

The album accentuates a theatricality that at times risks melodrama, but which is explained by the idea of ​​an all-encompassing love at the center of the project. Stelmanis balances this pressure with musical writing that pays attention to nuances, alternating pulsations and grooves with moments of vocal intimacy and almost lyrical surges. Compared to his past production, the beat has lost a bit of luster and depth, resulting in a more cheesy dance sound. Even his voice remains a force: at times operatic, at times fragile, always controlled, never indulgent.

“Chin Up Buttercup” proceeds between outbursts of catharsis and reflective pauses, until it closes with Good Riddance, where the possibility of turning the page emerges. The album speaks to those who have learned to repress pain, to those who have had to “move forward” without emotional shortcuts. Austra does it with honesty, oscillating between dance and confession, between armor and vulnerability.

Saying to yourself “I'm fine”. Austra transforms trauma into music, without giving up her own style, even without achieving the full emotional and creative impact possible.

TO LISTEN NOW

Amnesia – Siren Song – The Hopefulness of Dawn

TO BE SKIPPED IMMEDIATELY

Math Equation, a mixture of anger, irony and vulnerability too Eurodance!