Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles (II)
(Shock)
I'll cut to the chase: though they share the same title, the second Crystal Castles album far outstrips their 2008 debut. Their sound is sharper, more focussed, more engaging. With this release, the Toronto-based duo - producer Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass - confidently lay claim to a significant chunk of real estate between the complementary genres of glitch pop, noise and electronica. Crystal Castles II is a statement of intent, a challenge to their peers. In whole, it's frighteningly good. Fourth track 'Baptism' is the best thing they've ever written, surpassing Crystal Castles I standout 'Air Wars' by a considerable margin. On 'Baptism', they do everything right. Sheets of urgent synthesisers give way to a dainty, circular keyboard melody pasted over a pulsating beat, before Alice Glass's pained vocals are met by the synthesised opening phrase cut into staccato triplets. 'Baptism' concocts an air of foreboding unlike anything they've summoned before.
In an era where single tracks are often preferable to consuming whole albums, that song alone will warrant your close attention. Elsewhere, first single 'Celestica' is the straightest pop song that the duo has released. It sees them trading on a Knife-like aesthetic, without hazarding plagiarism: Glass's sweetly-delivered vocals - a true rarity among their catalogue - are offset by a digitised, sighing male voice, while her lyrics hint at a sense of hopelessness ("If I'm lost please don't find me / If I drown let me sink"). 'Celestica' rubs up against the confronting, abrasive 'Doe Deer', which shocks the ear upon first listen. Everything is distorted - the bass, the hyperkinetic beat, the vocals - yet 'Doe Deer' is strangely compelling, and lends itself to repeat listens. A twisted sense of humour crops up on penultimate track 'Intimate'. Devoid of vocal accompaniment, the song title is a ruse: on several occasions, the song slips into a impenetrable sheet of looped white noise that puts into mind a high-speed train passing an inch from your ear.
Surges of distortion drive 'Year Of Silence', while Glass's indecipherable vocals appear to be backwards-tracked at first (though it turns out she's singing Sigur Rós lyrics). As a result, it's less about what’s said than the sound of the words. Vocals in 'Empathy' are treated with layers of echo and delay, before a synthesised human voice provides the chorus melody. 'Violent Dreams' is a sparse creation that seems to unravel in slow motion; conversely, Glass's vocals in 'Pap Smear' hit nearly Bjork-like pitches.
Unlike Crystal Castles I, this album isn't purely top-heavy: everything up to and including its final track - 'I Am Made Of Chalk', an instrumental consisting of gurgling, demented electronic sounds - is as vital as the menacing opener, 'Fainting Spells'. Given the inconsistent pacing of their debut, the unerring cohesion on show throughout Crystal Castles II is both surprising and welcome. Highly recommended.
Andrew McMillen