Future Politics

Future Politics, Austra's third, and most ambitious album to date, calls for radical hope: a commitment to replace the approaching dystopia, says Katie Stelmanis. Not just hope in the future, but the idea that everyone is required to help write it, and the boundaries of what it can look like are both fascinating and endless. It's not about 'being political,' it's about reaching beyond boundaries, in every single field. A collection of urgent, but disciplined anthems for dancefloor and headphones, Future Politics asks each of us to remember that apocalypse is not an inevitability, but the product of human decision-making. It aims for a world without borders, where human compassion and curiosity drive technological innovation rather than profit, where the necessity of labor is replaced with time for creativity and personal growth, and the terror and destruction wrought by colonialism and white supremacy is recognized as a dark age in human history. The album is radicalism distilled: to galvanic beats, gorgeous, kinetic melodies, and the vulnerable majesty of Stelmanis's voice. With it's steady, propulsive beats and siren-like synth hooks, it's both anthem and ultimatum: we have a duty to imagine better, and to imagine big.