If Crystal Castles were always a box of sharp objects waiting to be upended, Alice Glass was the one most likely to do serious damage. Her exit from the band, and the mess left behind by Ethan Kath’s public statements on the split, immediately cast a pall over any new record he’d seek to put out under the name. The surprise, perhaps, is how it lifts a little on ‘Amnesty (I)’.
Edith Frances, the band’s new vocalist, isn’t Alice Glass. To her credit, she doesn’t try to be. This record takes a notable step closer to straightforward pop and EDM than Crystal Castles have done in the past, and they make it work for them.
On Enth and Fleece, Frances melds nagging melodic refrains to slabs of noise that threaten to overrun them but never manage it, while songs like Sadist, Char and Ornament occupy the sort of spaces that might interest an ‘Art Angels’-era Grimes.
There will undoubtedly be gripes about this change of pace. Never do Crystal Castles mark two hit the terrifying heights that Glass routinely would in a live environment, but their attempts to do so are wisely kept to a handful.
Kath’s instrumentals still have the audacity and no-fucks-given power to veer wildly off course - see Teach Her How To Hunt’s gradual disintegration and the queasy menace of Chloroform - but there is a sustained air of introversion at work here, even as Frances reels off lyrics that take a wide-angle view of human rights abuses and global political rifts.
By changing their approach ever so slightly, Crystal Castles have just about succeeded in differentiating between who they were then and who they are now. There is much to reward those who wade into ‘Amnesty (I)’, but unlikely anything that will light a fire inside the old guard like Glass did when in full force-of-nature mode.
Crystal Castles Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu November 03 2016 - LIVERPOOL O2 Academy Liverpool
Mon November 07 2016 - GLASGOW Glasgow Garage
Tue November 08 2016 - MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
Wed November 09 2016 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Riverside
Thu November 10 2016 - SHEFFIELD Leadmill
Sat November 12 2016 - BRISTOL Marble Factory
Sun November 13 2016 - EXETER Lemon Grove Exeter
Tue November 15 2016 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
Thu November 17 2016 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2
Click here to compare & buy Crystal Castles Tickets at Stereoboard.com.
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
.jpg)
