Listen To U.K. Producer Ikonika’s Piercing Remix of Austra’s “Utopia”

Austra’s new LP, Future Politics, is out January 20 via Domino Records, and they’ll be touring North America in the new year.

November 03, 2016
Listen To U.K. Producer Ikonika’s Piercing Remix of Austra’s “Utopia” Photo by Renata Raksha

Last month, synthpop act Austra announced a new album called Future Politics, due out January 20 via Domino. The news was accompanied by a new track, “Utopia,” featuring the pop-aria vocals of bandleader Katie Stelmanis. Today, U.K. producer Ikonika has released a remix of the track, adding new chords and tweaking Stelmanis’s vocals to bring new context to the song. Marked by wonky chords characteristic of her fuzzy-synth style, Ikonika's take on “Utopia" is slower and more somber.

In an email to The FADER, Ikonika discussed her thinking behind the remix. “Good form is ubiquitous," she said. "We all wanna share our achievements via social media. We can easily be distracted by it. One lyric I had on loop making this remix was My work is valid, I can’t prove it/ but I know. I always thought of myself as online shy, but I learnt I just can't be bothered much.”

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Stelmanis gave the remix a thumbs up. “Ikonika is one of my favorite producers and I was super excited [that] she wanted to do a remix," she told The FADER over email. "I love what she did with ‘Utopia,’ the new chord progressions are really unexpected, but come together so beautifully in the chorus.”

Domino Records will release Future Politics on January 20 (preorder it here). Check Austra's tour dates below.

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Austra tour dates

01/20 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
01/21 - Montreal - Fairmount Theatre
01/24 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
01/26 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
01/27 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
01/28 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
01/29 - Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall
01/31 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In *
02/01 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West *
02/02 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa *
02/03 - Dallas, TX - Trees *
02/04 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk *
02/05 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace *
02/07 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar *
02/08 - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
02/09 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre *
02/11 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine *
02/13 - Portland, OR - Holocene *
02/14 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile *
02/17 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *
02/18 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
02/19 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *

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* with support from The Range

Listen To U.K. Producer Ikonika’s Piercing Remix of Austra’s “Utopia”