What with the pristine production work that sits so prominently on the fringes of ‘Feel It Break’, the debut long player from Canadian sextet Austra, it’s easy to take singer Katie Stelmanis’ voice as a mere accessory – albeit a vital one – to the album’s grand scheme. But, as is accomplished so beautifully in that record’s final track, ‘The Beast’, in which Stelmanis’ soprano is pitched against a spectral piano piece, her voice comes to define Austra’s new cover of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’.
Best described in its state circa 1965 as a muted rock n roll shuffle, the band remodel the song as Stelmanis’ very own theatrical monologue, placing her voice at the heart of a delicate scenery of strings, choirs and woodwind, and letting it shine and shiver in all its easy brilliance.
‘Crying’ is one of several extras featuring on the just-released deluxe edition of ‘Feel It Break’, another being a truly twisted remix of album track ‘Beat And The Pulse’ by Slipknot’s Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan. While you’ll have to seek that out yourself, I’m happy to supply a stream of ‘Crying’, which isn’t at all scary.
Sections: by Aly Barchi - CMU Approved | Tags: Austra
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