Austra, the project of Canadian vocalist and composer Katie Stelmanis, welcomes in 2026 with a short film, Chin Up Buttercup: The Movie. The release of Chin Up Buttercup: The Movie coincides with Austra’s 2026 tour of North America, the EU, and UK, kicking off with three sold-out shows in Ottawa, Montreal, and Brooklyn.

Written by and starring Stelmanis, and directed by Hedia Maron, the short film expands on the emotional world of the album through new visuals, behind-the-scenes footage from the album’s photoshoots, and poetic voiceovers. Featured tracks include “Amnesia” and “Chin Up Buttercup,” as well as an acoustic live snippet of “The Hopefulness of Dawn,” offering a deeper entry point into Chin Up Buttercup.

Stelmanis comments: “I had planned to make a video of some sort using bts footage, and with the help of director/editor Hedia Maron, the idea spiraled into a wild no-budget movie making adventure.”

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. Her secret? She didn’t really know what that devastation felt like. She only experienced it off stage in early 2020 when her long-term partner dropped a bombshell. “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 says. She confesses to feeling very at odds with the world, like nothing made sense. The album’s name is a reference to the societal pressure to just paste on a smile and keep going. Stelmanis and co-producer Kieran Adams took inspiration from the Eurodance sound of Madonna’s 1998 album Ray of Light, produced by William Orbit, and emerged with a mix of hypnotic dance floor anthems and elegant melodies to soothe your broken heart.

AUSTRA 2026 TOUR

1/9: Club Saw – Ottawa, ON *SOLD OUT*
1/10: La Sala Rossa – Montreal, QC *SOLD OUT*
1/11: Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn, NY *SOLD OUT*
1/12: Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn, NY
1/13: Beachland Ballroom & Tavern – Cleveland, OH
1/14: The Magic Bag – Ferndale, MI
1/16: Sleeping Village – Chicago, IL
1/17: 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
1/20: 29th Street Ballroom – Austin, TX
1/21: Club Dada – Dallas, TX
1/23: The Roxy Theatre – West Hollywood, CA
1/24: The Independent – San Francisco, CA
1/26: Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
1/27: Madame Lou’s – Seattle, WA
1/29: The Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC
1/31: The Great Hall – Toronto, ON *SOLD OUT*
2/6: Foro Indie Rocks – Cuauhtémoc, MX
2/7: C3 Rooftop – Guadalajara, MX
2/28: Sala Villanos – Madrid, ES
3/1: La Nau – Barcelona, ES
3/3: L’Epicerie Moderne – Fezyin (Lyon), FR
3/4: La Maroquinerie – Paris, FR
3/5: Le Grand Mix – Tourcoing, FR
3/7: Botanique – Rotonde – Brussels, BE
3/8: Mojo Club – Hamburg, DE
3/9: Hotel Cecil – Copenhagen, DK
3/10: Slatkyrkan – Stockholm, SE
3/12: Kesselhaus – Berlin, DE
3/13: Hydrozagadka – Warsaw, PL
3/14: Subzero – Prague, CZ
3/17: Technikum – Munich, DE
3/18: Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld (CBE) – Köln, DE
3/19: Melkweg – Amsterdam, NL
3/21: Stereo – Glasgow, UK
3/22: The White Hotel – Salford, UK
3/23: Village Underground – London, UK
3/25: The Workman’s Club – Dublin, IE
3/26: Flux – Vienna, AT

Order tickets for Austra HERE