Austra

Santarcangelo is an old town in the Romagna lowlands, nowadays so polished up that its inhabitants of centuries past would struggle to recognize it. Buildings and streets glow under yellowish streetlamps, crowds gather around the market stalls: summer has arrived here too, and the square packed with families, every single one clutching an ice cream, is proof of it. But it took a fresh new phenomenon like Austra to drastically lower the average age in this corner of Romagna, which tonight draws a fairly devoted crowd, despite these being one of the newest names in North American indie music.

On its own, "Feel It Break", a debut album that's exemplary in its solidity, already made clear this wasn't just another chic little band coasting on a mountain of sterile synths. The strength of Canada's Austra revolves around the gorgeous voice of Katie Stelmanis, who had already released a solo album back in 2008: her timbre might recall a less guttural Zola Jesus, and the songwriting certainly owes a debt to Swedish duo The Knife, but the genuine, passionate talent, free of any unnatural affectation, is audible from the very first vocalizations of "Darken Her Horse", which also opened the show. There's the obligatory keyboardist, sure, but also a proper bass and drums; and flanking the stage are two magnetic backing singers/dancers, who immediately launch into sinuous movements, one turned side-on, the other working her hips – it makes you think every gig of this kind should come with such a corollary. The beat is sly at first, kept evanescent for a couple of minutes before striking straight at the heart, with a class that can only be described as genuinely "feminine".

Sometimes you can win even with few weapons at your disposal, if you use them well. Austra's cocktail is transparent (though not colorless), relying not on visual gimmicks but solely and exclusively on the contribution of each musician. An initial mix-up with the sound engineer and a few hesitations from the bespectacled drummer aren't enough to bring down the overall melodic structure, which the young frontwoman constantly embellishes with her crystalline voice. Chills down the spine on hearing the high notes of "The Villain", or the falsettos of "Hate Crime" and the single "Lose It"; Katie's arms trace circles in the air, as if she were conducting an imaginary orchestra that could well be us, entirely at the mercy of the rhythm. "The Beat and the Pulse", as their signature tune is titled, is exactly that: once this hit with its dark, sinful allure kicks in, arms and legs stop obeying, muscle overtakes thought, and everyone collectively surrenders to an obsessive, liberating motion. It feels as though we've known these beats forever, such is the immediacy with which they reach the audience; there's no dispersion or muddiness in the sound, the result stays as lean as it was always meant to be.

There's euphoria in the air, though we already knew it was bound to be short-lived. This is a debuting band who, having played all their aces, can only grant us an encore in the form of a cover – for a more glorious closing of the circle, we again point you to the album, which ends with a moment of stunning lyricism in "The Beast", more deserving of a theater stage than any old venue. For now, though, we'll happily settle for this.

Thanks to Samuele Arcidiacono for the photo contribution

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