The Toronto-based electronic music group Austra has announced a new studio album titled HiRUDiN, which is set to be released on May 1st via Domino. The band has debuted a new track and music video in support of this upcoming release titled “Anywayz” which was directed by Jasmin Mozaffari.

“Anywayz” opens up with a shot of a dark living room, that slowly gets brighter as the song continues, and focuses on the Destiny Vania Rettinger, as she attempts to escape from the light creeping in. Austra’s vocalist Katie Stelmanis opens the track with a harrowing vocal performance, as the instrumental steadily increases in tempo. The track contrasts her emotional vocals with an upbeat alternative pop instrumental, filled with soothing synth melodies and a rhythmic beat.

“I wanted the video to feel as dramatic and chaotic as heartbreak can be, bringing this fear into fruition,” Mozaffari explained in a press release. “The concept focuses on Katie as a heightened version of herself, sequestered inside a barren mansion that resembles a cage of her own spiralling thoughts. She resists moving on, yet as time persists and the outside world thrives, it eventually forces itself upon her.”

The band recently released their first new track in three years titled “Risk It,” which was announced ahead of their upcoming 2020 tour dates. This upcoming tour is scheduled to take off in Toronto, Canada at the Longboat Hall on May 5th and will continue until May 22nd, where it will end at the Tomavistas Festival in Madrid, Spain.

Check out our interview with Stelmanis regarding her 2017 release Future Politics, which made our list of the 50 best albums of 2017.

HiRUDiN

Anywayz
All I Wanted
How Did You Know?
Your Family
Risk It
Interlude i
It’s Amazing
Mountain Baby feat. Cecile Believe
I Am Not Waiting
Interlude ii
Messiah

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna