Austra, the pop project of Canadian vocalist and composer Katie Stelmanis, returns with a powerful new show ahead of her upcoming album Chin Up Buttercup, due out November 14 via Domino. Stelmanis, a classically trained musician and opera devotee with four previous albums and a Canadian Screen Award under her belt, has been singing dramatic arias about tragedy for years. But the emotional core of Chin Up Buttercup hits differently — rooted in her own experience of heartbreak after a sudden breakup in early 2020. “I was completely blindsided... the person I loved woke up one day, told me she wasn’t happy, and I basically never saw her again,” Stelmanis shares. The album’s title references the pressure to keep going — to “chin up” and smile — even when everything falls apart. Co-produced with Kieran Adams, the record draws sonic inspiration from the Eurodance of Madonna’s Ray of Light era, blending hypnotic dancefloor energy with elegant, heart-healing melodies. Stelmanis turned her personal pain into poetic fragments in a cathartic Google Doc, which ultimately shaped the album’s raw and fearless lyrics. Its first single, “Math Equation”, captures that energy vividly: “You said I needed my own friends / So I found them / Then you fucked them.” Both a biting clapback and a bittersweet plea for connection, the song is steeped in the kind of sapphic chaos that threads its way through the entire album. “Math Equation” is out now, accompanied by a video directed by Trevor Blumas. If you have any queries or would like more information about access at Village Underground, please see our FAQs here: https://bit.ly/3EhSLgF, or contact access@villageunderground.co.uk. Presented by Parallel Lines. 16+ event. (16-17 with a responsible adult 18+,1:1)