Seraphina Lotkhamnga on July 7th, 2014

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Toronto’s Austra returns with a new EP titled “Habitat,” a collection of four songs that continue to combine the ethereal with the haunting in electronic music. However, there is a good chunk of music in there without Katie Stelmanis’ operatic vocals this time around. There isn’t even a peep from Stelmanis until a little before halfway through their Zeezy Powers-directed video for closing track “Hulluu.” The same pretty much goes the same for tracks “Bass Drum Dance” while “Deepfer” is purely instrumental. Featuring choreography and dancing by Emily Law, the video’s focus on movement and multiplication works in tandem with the minimalistic rhythms in “Hulluu.” (No, that’s not your post-July 4th hangover making you see five of Law.) “I took your microphone / It’s in the river,” Stelmanis eerily chants as the beats bounce up and down. The opening and title track “Habitat” may feel a bit more familiar to fans of Austra’s past touches of dark wave and hypnotic choruses, but the direction could go either way for the forthcoming album. Austra’s “Habitat” EP is out now via Domino.

||| Live: Austra plays Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 at the Orpheum Theatre with Broken Bells.