Biography
Crystal Castles emerged from a seamless blend of gritty electronic textures and infectious pop melodies, a mix that often registered as unintentional. The project took shape late in 2003 as the solo endeavor of producer and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath. He selected the name after She-Ra’s fortress in the He-Man and Masters of the Universe animated series and after a 1983 Atari title; the choice proved fitting because one defining element of the group’s sound originated from a keyboard fitted with an Atari 5200 sound chip.
The lineup solidified in 2006 once Kath began writing songs with vocalist Alice Glass. One early recording, “Alice Practice,” arose by chance during a microphone test for Glass; its MySpace posting quickly drew label attention. Issued as a 500-copy 7-inch on Merok Records, the same label that released Klaxons material, the single sold out inside three days. Kath and Glass continued developing original material while refining remixes for Klaxons, GoodBooks, Uffie, Health, and Bloc Party.
Support tours with the Presets and Metric throughout 2007 preceded the early-2008 arrival of the band’s self-titled debut on Last Gang. A second self-titled album surfaced in 2010; after leaking online in late April, the record received an immediate digital release, followed by physical copies in May. For the more streamlined 2012 album III, the duo relocated to Warsaw and tracked directly to tape, bypassing computer-based production.
Alice Glass exited in October 2014 to launch a solo career. Kath resurfaced the following April with the new Crystal Castles track “Frail,” featuring vocalist Edith Frances. “Deicide” appeared that July, several months before the revised lineup’s first live performance at November’s Soundswild Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. Further material surfaced in early 2016, culminating in the August release of the fourth album, Amnesty.
The lineup solidified in 2006 once Kath began writing songs with vocalist Alice Glass. One early recording, “Alice Practice,” arose by chance during a microphone test for Glass; its MySpace posting quickly drew label attention. Issued as a 500-copy 7-inch on Merok Records, the same label that released Klaxons material, the single sold out inside three days. Kath and Glass continued developing original material while refining remixes for Klaxons, GoodBooks, Uffie, Health, and Bloc Party.
Support tours with the Presets and Metric throughout 2007 preceded the early-2008 arrival of the band’s self-titled debut on Last Gang. A second self-titled album surfaced in 2010; after leaking online in late April, the record received an immediate digital release, followed by physical copies in May. For the more streamlined 2012 album III, the duo relocated to Warsaw and tracked directly to tape, bypassing computer-based production.
Alice Glass exited in October 2014 to launch a solo career. Kath resurfaced the following April with the new Crystal Castles track “Frail,” featuring vocalist Edith Frances. “Deicide” appeared that July, several months before the revised lineup’s first live performance at November’s Soundswild Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. Further material surfaced in early 2016, culminating in the August release of the fourth album, Amnesty.
Albums
Singles
