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Jun 18, 2013This is easily Austra's most exciting and fully formed piece of work yet.
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Jun 18, 2013Olympia inhabits a strange realm of saturnine electronica meant for cathartic swaying rather than choreographed movement.
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Q MagazineJul 10, 2013The plush, throbbing synths and twinkling tension that filled Feel It Break are conjured again here, but there's a subtle shift this time in the dynamic and Olympia's power lies in its marimba-infused percussion. [Aug 2013, p.93]
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Jun 21, 2013Olympia’s aura pervades the listening sphere Austra has fabricated for their second LP, transcending the frozen cave of their first to the upper echelons of atmospheric dance-pop.
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Jun 20, 2013Stelmanis’s voice, as ever, remains the focal point, swooping down hard on notes with a tremor that belies just how sturdy her songs are.
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Jun 19, 2013Austra do a stellar job of navigating a sea of vintage synth sounds and applying them tastefully and appropriately so that they sound at once both retro-cool and strikingly forward-thinking.
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Jun 17, 2013Sub-zero synths and crashing drums resound through this fine second album, while the powerful, tremulous voice of frontwoman Katie Stelmanis instils even minor sentiments with a sense of operatic foreboding.
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Jun 17, 2013Austra opts for a more balanced and poised version of the sound they set forth on Feel It Break; even though that album's rough edges and raw nerves were a large part of what made it so potent, Olympia feels like the beginning of a more sustainable, and versatile, direction for the band.
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Jun 13, 2013What's most striking is how great this sounds--clean, considered, with every detail in its place and a clear sense of its own identity.
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Jun 13, 2013Most of the songs here start like slowburn opener ‘What We Done?’, with Stelmanis’ constantly tremulous voice front and centre surrounded by ever-increasing layers of synths, padded beats and distant percussion. If you can get past it, however, there’s much to enjoy.
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Jun 13, 2013It duly delivers, comprising a first-rate electro set rich with the imagination of songwriter Katie Stelmani.
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Jun 13, 2013Everything’s so crisply atmospheric, and Stelmanis is such a talismanic presence, that the album’s momentum never flags, even if there’s sometimes a minute or two without a hook.
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Jul 10, 2013The growth in Austra from Feel It Break to Olympia is palpable throughout.
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Jun 26, 2013Stelmanis has said she listened to a lot of early Cat Power while recording Olympia, and while nothing here sounds anywhere near as stark, the lyrics often do, and lead appropriately tense, nervy sounding songs.
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Jul 8, 2013While the music might still be a bit detached and remote, the more collaborative nature of this record does make it easier to meet half way, as does Stelmanis’ unerring sense of pop melody, and of when to drop a 4/4 beat for maximum effect.
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Jun 21, 2013The hits and even the misses on Austra’s latest end up being more revelatory than the one-note perfectionism of Feel It Break, because the music on Olympia reflects what Katie Stelmanis’ songs are about: coming into your own by moving out of your comfort zone.
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Jun 20, 2013It doesn’t push boundaries in the same way that Feel It Break busted up notions of genres, but its smooth production stabilizes the lyrics’ emotional bombast.
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Jun 18, 2013The album sags in its center, with the hooks present and effective, but without immediacy or remarkable sonics to maintain the opening’s momentum.
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MagnetJun 17, 2013Debbie Downer, perhaps, but Austra sure knows how to make misery sound like a good time. [No.99, p.52]
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Jun 17, 2013Ultimately this is an album to dance, not cry, to.
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Jun 17, 2013It meanders a touch in the middle, but in general Olympia is a genuinely bold attempt from Austra to expand on their debut while retaining most of what it was that made them stand out in the first place.
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Jun 13, 2013While not as fully committed to outright, aloof oddity as contemps like The Knife, they know how to wear some black. [Jun-Jul 2013, p.86]
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Jun 13, 2013Nothing here quite matches the excitement of Feel It Break highlights The Beat And The Pulse and Lose It (although Home, Forgive Me, Painful Like and Annie (Oh Muse You) all come close). But this doesn’t stop Olympia being a sizeable step up from its predecessor and a fine album in its own right.
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Jun 18, 2013Not all of Olympia’s added complexity works to its benefit, but the album succeeds as a necessary stepping-stone on Stelmanis’ path of artistic discovery.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 18
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Mixed: 2 out of 18
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Negative: 0 out of 18
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Jul 21, 2013
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Jul 4, 2013