“Beat and the Pulse” by Austra

"Beat and the Pulse" was one of three singles pulled from Feel It Break, the debut album the Canadian electronic band Austra released on Domino in May 2011. The band wrote and produced it together, with Mike Haliechuk co-producing; Katie Stelmanis sings and plays keyboards, Dorian Wolf handles bass and Maya Postepski drums.

It's dark, pulsing synth music with a chill at its center. The single's B-sides were "Energy" and "Young and Gay", Stelmanis's salute to Will Munro, the Toronto artist and activist who had died, and a remix by Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan turned up on the album's deluxe edition. Critics praised the production and Stelmanis's voice across the record, reaching for Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins and Depeche Mode, and Feel It Break made the shortlist for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.