Austra (band)

[9] Stelmanis is the only permanent member of the project, with a rotating live band that has included Maya Postepski (drums), Dorian Wolf (bass, Moog), and Ryan Wonsiak (keyboards).

Powers convinced her to start performing her songs live, and in 2008 Stelmanis' debut album Join Us, which appeared under her own name, was released through Blocks Recording Club.

[20][22] Feel It Break was included on several year-end critics' lists; notably, both the Toronto Star and New York named it the best album of 2011, with the former calling it "an outright stunner".

[29] For the record, Stelmanis spent time in Mexico where she was introduced to electro cumbia while house, dance and techno music influenced the writing for the album.

[30] Lyrically, Stelmanis was inspired by the book Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams and The Accelerationist Manifesto.