Trust

Katie Stelmanis shopped her classically trained pipes around the Toronto scene for a good half-decade before Austra brought her to people's attention. Maya Postepski deserves some credit for this, as it took a certain amount of musical theatricality to properly deliver such an ostentatious voice. Postepski transports the same sense of drama and ardour to TRST, the debut album from her project: Trust. If one judges the Toronto, ON duo exclusively on their near-satirical cover art, song titles ("This Ready Flesh," "Sulk") and Robert Alfons' manufactured vocal persona, Trust are pure goth. But, as songs like "Candy Walls" and "Gloryhole" are deconstructed, the manner in which Postepski layers her synths like a four-on-the floor circle jerk, the importance of dynamics and pleather-tight sequencing, TRST comes off less conceptual and more song-based than their image suggests. The truth is Trust are masters of delivery and flawless executioners, proving to be much better mechanics than designers.