Olympia (Austra album)

2013 studio album by Austra

Olympia

Studio album by

Austra

Released| June 17, 2013 (2013-06-17)
Studio|

* Key Club (Benton Harbor, Michigan)[a]
* Soma (Chicago)[a]
* Electrical Audio (Chicago)[a]
* Candle Recording (Toronto)[b]
* Golden Ratio (Montreal)[c]

Genre|

* Synth-pop[1]
* house[2]

Length| 45:44
Label| Domino
Producer| Austra
Austra chronology
| Feel It Break
(2011)  | Olympia
(2013)  | Future Politics
(2017)

|
|

Singles from  Olympia

1. "Home"
Released: March 7, 2013[3]
2. "Painful Like"
Released: May 30, 2013[4]
3. "Forgive Me"
Released: November 26, 2013[5]

Olympia is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music band Austra, released on June 17, 2013, by Domino.[6] Olympia spawned three singles: "Home", "Painful Like" and "Forgive Me". The album received largely positive reviews from critics, who said that it had more "bombastic throb" compared to its predecessor while still showcasing lead singer Katie Stelmanis's "classically trained, massive voice",[7] adding that it was "clean, considered, with every detail in its place and a clear sense of its own identity."[8]

## Background and development

[edit]

In an interview for the music blog Stereogum, Stelmanis said that she began writing Olympia while still touring in support of the band's debut studio album, Feel It Break.[9] According to her, writing Olympia took about a year, and the actual recording, in the studio in Michigan, four to five weeks. Her vocals were recorded in Montreal with Damian Taylor and then sent to be mixed to Tom Elmhirst. Stelmanis told Interview magazine that the album is titled after the newborn child of the owners of the studio where they recorded, where Austra was "the first band into the studio after the baby was born".[10]

She also told Stereogum that the band was more focused on the quality of the sound than before and that every song on Olympia "was hand-picked in a very thoughtful way."[9] On various occasions she noted that Olympia was a more collaborative record than its predecessor, which, in her own words, "was pretty much a bedroom project".[11]

Stelmanis states that the primary inspiration for Olympia were the "early house music tracks" like "Chicago house and Detroit" and Marshall Jefferson's song "Move Your Body" in particular to which Stelmanis was listening to a lot. She was inspired by the fact that such music, according to her, was created without any electronic instruments and therefore actually played (as opposed to computer-generated music where computers generate the sounds of the composition – which was also the case with their previous album Feel It Break[12]). This inspired the band to play live instruments, therefore Olympia has a more organic and natural feel.[13] Stelmanis also cited Portishead's album Third as an influence.[14]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
AnyDecentMusic?| 7.5/10[15]
Metacritic| 76/100[16]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [17]
Clash| 8/10[18]
Consequence of Sound| [2]
Drowned in Sound| 8/10[19]
Exclaim!| 9/10[20]
The Guardian| [8]
NME| 7/10[21]
Now| [22]
Paste| 7.0/10[23]
Pitchfork| 7.2/10[1]

Olympia received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 26 reviews.[16]

The album was a longlisted nominee for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize.[24]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Austra.

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "What We Done?"| 5:00
2.| "Forgive Me"| 3:20
3.| "Painful Like"| 3:59
4.| "Sleep"| 4:32
5.| "Home"| 4:15
6.| "Fire"| 4:42
7.| "I Don't Care (I'm a Man)"| 1:11
8.| "We Become"| 4:22
9.| "Reconcile"| 3:31
10.| "Annie (Oh Muse, You)"| 3:47
11.| "You Changed My Life"| 3:11
12.| "Hurt Me Now"| 3:54
Total length:| 45:44

iTunes Store bonus track[25]No.| Title| Length

|
|

13.| "Mayan Drums" (with Gina X)| 3:41
Total length:| 49:25

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Olympia.[26]

### Austra

[edit]

* Katie Stelmanis – vocals, synths, programming, piano, recorder
* Maya Postepski – keyboards, programming, percussion, drums, marimba, organ
* Dorian Wolf – bass, synth

### Additional musicians

[edit]

* Romy Lightman – backing vocals
* Sari Lightman – backing vocals
* Ryan Wonsiak – saxophone, keyboards
* Alia Hamdon-O'Brien – flute
* Anna-Sophia Vukovich – violin
* Ewan Kay – trombone

### Technical

[edit]

* Austra – production
* Mike Haliechuk – additional production
* Bill Skibbe – recording (tracks 1, 3–12)
* Leon Taheny – recording (track 2); additional recording (all tracks)
* Damian Taylor – vocal production, vocal recording
* Tom Elmhirst – mixing
* Ben Baptie – mix engineering
* Joe Visciano – mixing assistance
* Guy Davie – mastering

### Artwork

[edit]

* Norman Wong – all photography

## Charts

[edit]

Chart performance for Olympia Chart (2013)  | Peak
position

|

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] | 42
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] | 167
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] | 73
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[30] | 20
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] | 93
UK Albums (OCC)[32] | 183
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[33] | 37
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[34] | 9
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[35] | 48
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[36] | 14

## Release history

[edit]

Release history for Olympia Region  | Date  | Label  | Ref.

|
|
|

Various  | June 17, 2013  | Domino | [6]
Canada  | June 18, 2013  | Paper Bag
United States  | Domino

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Except "Forgive Me"
2. ^ "Forgive Me"
3. ^ Vocal recording

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b St. Asaph, Katherine (June 19, 2013). "Austra: Olympia". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
2. ^ a b Manning, Erin (June 21, 2013). "Album Review: Austra – Olympia". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
3. ^ "Home by Austra". 7digital. United Kingdom. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
4. ^ "Painful Like – Single by Austra". iTunes Store. Canada. Retrieved June 4, 2013.[dead link]
5. ^ "Forgive Me – Single by Austra". Apple Music. Canada. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
6. ^ a b "Olympia". Domino. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
7. ^ Thompson, Stephen (June 9, 2013). "First Listen: Austra, 'Olympia'". NPR. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
8. ^ a b Nicholson, Rebecca (June 13, 2013). "Austra: Olympia – review". The Guardian. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
9. ^ a b Rachel, T. Cole (May 14, 2013). "Q&A: Austra On New Album Olympia And Avoiding The Sophomore Slump". Stereogum. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
10. ^ Reese, Nathan (June 17, 2013). "Austra Mounts Olympia". Interview. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
11. ^ Carew, Anthony (May 23, 2013). "Interview: Katie Stelmanis of Austra". About.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
12. ^ Sirisuk, J.L. (June 21, 2013). "The Beat and the Groove: Interview with AUSTRA's Katie Stelmanis". HuffPost. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
13. ^ Young, Martyn (June 11, 2013). "Q&A: Austra". musicOMH. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
14. ^ "Interview: Austra". 7digital. June 2013. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
15. ^ "Olympia by Austra reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
16. ^ a b "Olympia by Austra Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
17. ^ Phares, Heather. "Olympia – Austra". AllMusic. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
18. ^ Lanfear, Hannah (June 10, 2013). "Austra – Olympia". Clash. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
19. ^ Lukowski, Andrzej (June 10, 2013). "Album Review: Austra – Olympia". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
20. ^ Lau, Melody (June 18, 2013). "Austra – Olympia". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
21. ^ Stevens, Jenny (June 17, 2013). "Austra – 'Olympia'". NME. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
22. ^ Trapunski, Richard (June 20, 2013). "Austra – Olympia". Now. Vol. 32, no. 42\. ISSN 0712-1326. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
23. ^ Cosores, Philip (June 18, 2013). "Austra: Olympia". Paste. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
24. ^ Villeneuve, Nicole (June 19, 2014). "Polaris Music Prize announces 2014 long list". Aux. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015.
25. ^ "Olympia by Austra". iTunes Store. Canada. June 11, 2013. Archived from the original on November 12, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
26. ^ Olympia (liner notes). Austra. Paper Bag Records. 2013. PAPER078.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
27. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Austra – Olympia" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Austra – Olympia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
29. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Austra – Olympia" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
30. ^ "Top 20 Indie Individual Artist Albums". Irish Recorded Music Association. June 20, 2013. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
31. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Austra – Olympia". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
32. ^ "Chart Log UK – Weekly Updates Sales 2013". Zobbel. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
33. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
34. ^ "Austra Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
35. ^ "Austra Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
36. ^ "Austra Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 3, 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Austra

* Katie Stelmanis
* Maya Postepski
* Dorian Wolf

Studio albums|

* Feel It Break
* Olympia
* Future Politics
* Hirudin

Related articles|

* Domino Records
* Paper Bag Records

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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