For now, time is a one-way street. We are never coming back to this exact moment in history, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If lessons from the past have taught us anything, though, it’s that history has a way of coming back around and catching us off guard.
There will be a couple of silver linings when the sun sets on arguably the most dark and desolate day North America has known: we’re never going to have to experience January 20, 2017 over again; and Austra’s Future Politics will be here to brighten the corners and reset the balance. The band’s third full length is a natural extension of both its predecessors. The moody tone of their debut Feel It Break is reflected in the synthetic, dance floor-filling pop melodies of songs “Utopia” and “Angel In Your Eye”, while the tropical disposition and optimism of 2013’s Olympia come through in Katie Stelmanis’ lyrical subject matter, a blend of science fiction and dystopian-busting hope for a future where civility outranks commerce in political concerns.
It’s hard to have faith in humanity when facing a daily bombardment of all that’s wrong in the world. Even as power is put into the hands of a censorious demagogue, Austra are ready to wage a rebellion of love, a revolution of words and art, and face the next four years with optimism, hope, and some of the most delectable musical hooks in their catalogue. In both concept and execution, Future Politics never promises to be a playbook for a way out of this mess we’re in, but dares to present an impassioned vision of what a future reality might hold.
