Au/Ra

Antiguan/German singer and songwriter Au/Ra crafts alternative pop with electronic influences inspired by her multicultural upbringing. She first garnered attention with her single “Concrete Jungle” off 2017′s Outsiders EP. She returned with 2018′s X Games EP, and tracks like 2019′s “Dance in the Dark” and 2021′s “Dead Girl.”
Born in Ibiza and raised in Antigua, Jamie Lou Stenzel grew up in a music-loving family (her father is a producer in the electronic/trance scene) and decided to pursue music at the age of ten. Under the name Jamie Lou, she uploaded her covers of songs by Birdy, P!nk, Shakira, Rihanna, and more. Later, she adopted the Au/Ra moniker, taking inspiration from a character in her self-penned Lord of the Rings fan fiction. Influenced by artists like Lana Del Rey, Kraftwerk, the Neighbourhood, and Arctic Monkeys, she began crafting her own original songs. Her first single, “Concrete Jungle,” bore a striking resemblance to Lorde, a “Royals 2.0” for 2016. She followed with “Outsiders,” an outcast anthem that interpolated Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” into its lyrics. Her third single, “Kicks,” was another big beat anthem with vocals leaning in the direction of Halsey. These three tracks would find their way onto her debut EP, Outsiders, which arrived in 2017. A second EP, X Games, arrived the following year. In 2019 Au/Ra issued the ethereal electro-pop single “Dance in the Dark.” Another standalone track, “Dead Girl,” appeared in 2021. ~ Neil Z. Yeung