They are named after the lyrics "The fate of the world is safe in Crystal Castles" and "Crystal Castles, the source of all power" both from the theme song for She-Ra's fortress. They are known for their melancholic lo-fi sound and their explosive live shows. Their debut album was included in NME's "Top 50 Albums of the Decade".
Initially the band was intended to be a solo project started by Ethan Kath in December 2003. Ethan later discovered Alice Glass singing in a noise-punk band, and thought he had found the "missing ingredient" to his music.
In 2004 Kath gave Alice 60 instrumental tracks and in April 2005 she recorded vocals over five instrumentals. The limited vinyl release of the band's first single Alice Practice sold out in only three days.
The track was a microphone test by Glass and she was not aware that the recording existed until London UK's Merok Records asked to release the track on vinyl, according to now ex-bandmate Kath. However, Glass declared over a decade later that this story was not true.
On the 18th March 2008 they released their debut album entitled Crystal Castles. This album reached #47 on UK Albums Chart, #6 on US Top Electronic Albums, #13 on US Top Heatseekers, and #32 on US Independent Albums. Crystal Castles received great reviews and ranked #39 on NME Magazine "Top 50 Albums of the Decade". They issued four singles: Alice Practice (1 June 2006), Crimewave (Crystal Castles vs HEALTH) (13 August 2007), Air War (17 December 2007), and Courtship Dating (31 March 2008).
Crystal Castles are known not only for their own efforts as a band, but also for commissioned remixes for number of groups, including Hunting For Witches by Bloc Party, and Atlantis to Interzone by friends and label mates, Klaxons.
In mid-2008, Crystal Castles were involved in two controversies related to artwork permissions and samples in their earliest unreleased songs. Crystal Castles used Trevor Brown's artwork (depicting singer Madonna with a black eye) without permission.
Furthermore, in one of Kath's earliest, unreleased demos, he incorporated a sample without permission. The track, "Insectica (CC vs Lo-Bat Version)", uses clips chopped out of a song by Lo-bat called "My Little Droid Needs a Hand", released under a Creative Commons license. Another track called "Love and Caring", samples the kick and snare from Covox's "Sunday".
In 23 April 2010 the duo released their second album Crystal Castles (II). This album reached #48 on UK Singles Chart, #8 on UK Dance Albums Chart, #24 on US Digital Albums, #6 on US Top Electronic Albums, and #3 on US Top Heatseekers. Crystal Castles (II) has been met with mostly positive reviews from critics. To date, four singles were issued: Doe Deer, Celestica and Baptism, and a new version of the track Not In Love which featured Robert Smith of The Cure on vocals.
This became their biggest hit to date, charting in a great amount of countries including a #3 in Belgium (Flanders), a #31 in Denmark and various notable placements on official alternative music charts. "Not In Love", which is a cover of a Platinum Blonde song of the same name, was also featured in various television shows (including "Degrassi") and the popular football simulation videogame FIFA 12.
The band toured throughout 2010 in the US and abroad and played the Reading and Leeds Festivals and Glastonbury Festival in the UK and Big Day Out in Australia. In February 2011, the band will perform on the NME Awards Tour
The band's third album, (III) was released on November 21, 2012. The album contains the singles "Plague", "Wrath of God", and "Sad Eyes".
On October 8th 2014 it was announced on then lead singer Alice Glass' Twitter that she was leaving the band, and that the group would end. However, Crystal Castles' manager immediately reported that the band would continue, and on April 15th, 2015, Ethan Kath shared a new track titled Frail on SoundCloud, writing 'this is Edith on vocals', implying that fellow musician Edith Frances was Crystal Castles' new lead vocalist, which was in fact the case.
On 2 July 2015, another new song, Deicide, was released as a single. A new version of Deicide was later released on the album under the title Their Kindness is Charade.
In late November 2015, Edith Frances played her first show as the other half of Crystal Castles in South Africa.
In the last week of June 2016, the track Concrete was leaked on Korean website MNet. The track was later released as a single on July 6 with an accompanying video Video on the same day on YouTube.
On June 29, the band previewed a new track Femen with a teaser of the music Video showing birds caught and struggling in mist nets via Vimeo.
On July 11, the band announced the new record, Amnesty (I) along with its cover art and track list and also premiering Char as Annie Mac's Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1.
The single and pre-order for the album were made available a day later on July 12.
The fourth, and last pre-order single Fleece was made available on August 16 at the band's iTunes page.
Another single titled Sadist was released on August 18, followed by the official release of the album on August 19, 2016. Track Sadist was followed by Edith's message announced on CC official Facebook page.
On their official website CC announced that all band's proceeds from Amnesty (I) album will be donated to Amnesty International. New album Vinyl and CD includes bonus track Kept.
http://www.crystalcastles.com
Various sources have reported that, as of 2018, Crystal Castles remains in a hiatus with no signs of new material coming in the near future.
Baptism
Crystal Castles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take a breath for the Father
Learn to love. Lessons repeating
The Chronicles are so misleading
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
This is your baptism
Hold my head under water
Take a breath for the Father
Learn to love. Lessons repeating
The Chronicles are so misleading
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
The lyrics to Crystal Castles's song Baptism conveys a message of rebirth and the idea of starting anew. The opening lyrics "Hold my head under water, take a breath for the Father" seems violent, but it's a metaphor used to signify rebirth by cleansing oneself of all past mistakes and sins. The next line "Learn to love, lessons repeating" suggests that the singer is trying to learn from past experiences and avoid repeating the same mistakes. The next line, "The Chronicles are so misleading" addresses the idea that past beliefs, traditions, and teachings can be flawed and how they can misguide an individual in life.
The chorus that follows intensifies the message of rebirth as the singer proclaims that "this is your baptism, and you can't forgive 'em". The idea here is that the process of rebirth and starting anew is personal and one must take responsibility for their own choices and actions without expecting forgiveness from others. The repetition of the chorus implies that this message is crucial and that one must carry it with them to move forward in life.
In summary, Baptism is a song about rebirth and starting anew by cleansing oneself of past mistakes and avoiding the repetition of the same mistakes. The lyrics convey a message of taking personal responsibility for one's actions and choices, without relying on forgiveness from others.
Line by Line Meaning
Hold my head under water
Suffocate me by holding my head underwater, symbolizing the feeling of drowning in one's emotions or past experiences.
Take a breath for the Father
Concurrently, taking a deep breath exhaling means to pray and make an offering to a deity.
Learn to love. Lessons repeating
The experience of falling in love can be repeated, even if the lessons are taught and learned over and over.
The Chronicles are so misleading
The stories of human history, religion, and mythology are all incomplete and inaccurate.
This is your baptism
This experience is symbolic of being reborn, cleansed of one's past mistakes or sins, and starting anew.
And you can't forgive em
The feeling of anger and resentment towards the people or events in the past that led to the need for a fresh start.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALICE GLASS, ETHAN KATH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alice
Hold my head under water
Take a breath for the Father
Learn to love. Lessons repeating
The Chronicles are so misleading
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
Hold my head under water
Take a breath for the Father
Learn to love. Lessons repeating
The Chronicles are so misleading
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
This is your baptism
And you can't forgive em
Neutral Fog
This is iconic. So ahead of its time.
tyra parenzee
literally.
Luca Magi
Iconico
THE BIGGEST SCUMBAG
ON GOD
Xlpaso
Very true
Luciano Ciuti
Art does not evolve like it was technology dude
Felipe Rivadeneira
For sure, Crystal Castles is one of the best electronic bands ever!
Tim Anon
Totally up there - will be remembered with the likes of Severed Heads, and The Knife.
Hole in Dans Sock
Felipe Rivadeneira
Top 5 no question. None.
Keeshia Lacy
She freaked my daughter out live in concert..I told her that's great stage presence, she's so fuckin awesome to watch!!