Crystal Castles are a duo consisting of producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass from Toronto. Their experimental electronic sound is both loved and hated by many people, although personally I'm a lover of them. They are known for their chaotic live shows (including climbing the sides of stages at Leeds Festival and throwing drum kits into the audience) and lo-fi home productions. The duo have gone from amazing to even better with their new album. After the previous album's catchy electronic melodies, eerie beats and Alice Glass' vocal persona - the next album was definitely one that had to have something different and more exciting to improve on the last. In my opinion 'Crystal Castles (II)' lived up to my expectations of being more mind blowing than the previous.
The album starts off with 'Fainting Spells', kicking off with Alice Glass' low screams and breathing, slowly bringing in a low electronic beat and melody. It isn't one of the best on the album, so I was quick to skip this one half way though when first hearing it.
'Celestica' however has a completely different feel. It has a softer introduction, with a low, melodic electric pattern. Alice's vocals are also softer here, and we can hear the lyrics a lot clearer than most of Crystal Castles' songs. One of my personal favourites of the album, 'Celestica' shows the duo in a more different light. The only song I could twin this with from the previous album is possibly 'Courtship Dating', as that track was also less aggressive and had a soft melody behind it. 'Celestica' could been seen as almost trance-like, as the backing throughout the song wouldn't seem out of place in a popular dance track. However, the uses of electronic glitches and unique vocals make this track instantly recognisable as Crystal Castles.
'Doe Deer' has the stereotypical aggressiveness of Crystal Castles. It starts off with a running pattern repeated throughout the track and has Alice's vocals more distorted - making it hard to make out what she's supposed to be saying. After looking up the lyrics on the internet all she does is repeat "deathray deathray". The lyrics written by the duo don't tend to make too much sense most of the time, so this is not out of character.
Probably my favourite track of the new album, 'Batism' starts off trance-like as in 'Celestica'. However the track then goes quiet, leaving a simple electronic melody to continue - a highly intoxicating sound to say how minimalistic it is. When the vocals kick in however, it goes back to the trance sound - but continues to go back to the simple melody in between each verse/chorus/general mash of shouting. It never ceases to amaze me how Crystal Castles manage to make the simplest of samples become so memorable and catchy.
'Year of Silence' starts off with a sort of melodic pulse sound followed by male vocals this time, chanting and repeating the same thing over and over - also being overlapped by a higher toned male voice chanting, almost like a call and response theme. Light textures of electronic sounds float over the top, eventually filling up gaps in the piece. This track has a more moody based sound to it - lowering the tones following 'Baptism'.
'Empathy' and 'Suffocation' both have a less aggressive and harsh sound. Together they create a more relaxed atmosphere in comparison to 'Doe Deer' etc, both having light textures of electronic notes and glitches with soft vocals.
'Violent Dreams' goes back to the trance feel, with reverberated chords floating in the background behind soft vocals from Alice. This track is also simple, and sadly in my opinion one of the less memorable and thought about tracks on the album.
'Vietnam' joins low vocal drones with a moderate to upbeat rhythm. This particular use of beat reminds me of tracks from the previous album, or possibly is just a stereotypical trait/sound to come from Crystal Castles. Over the top of this a light, almost twinkly sound. Towards the end the vocals become almost child-like and innocent, but coupled with the dark electronic sounds of Crystal Castles gives the track a deeper, eerier feel. The stereotypical sounding beat used in this track is also mimicked in both 'Birds' and 'Pap Smear'.
'Not in Love' begins with a chiptune-like feel, and has almost an old video game sound to it. The child-lilke vocals are used here too.
Like 'Baptism', 'Intimate' is also another favourite of mine from this album. It too has a simple electronic melody that sticks in your head. Both these tracks are remotely different from the sound of the last album. The melody gradually speeds up from the start of the track, and low drones are introduced underneath. This track is about as minimalistic as they come, consisting of drones, an electronic melody, and an extremely simple rhythm consisting of only two electronic drum sounds. There are only a couple of changes to the sound throughout, for example, introducing an harsh, whirring sound to break it up mid way through - but soon after going back to the track as it was.
'I am Made of Chalk' goes back to the chiptune-video gamey sound and sees the album out on a more relaxed note in comparison to some of tracks on the album.
Overall I would rate this album highly. Crystal Castles have managed to improve on an already distinct and sought-after sound and have increased in popularity greatly (even being featured on things such as hollyoaks and mainstream adverts - however annoying this may be to fans). I will be awaiting my first live encounter with them on October - we shall soon see if they live up to their expectations of live performance!
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