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.
Sad Eyes
Crystal Castles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shadows cast uninvite
Discourage affection
Sad eyes
Sad eyes
You can't disguise sad eyes
Feign care and warm concern
Discourage affection
Sad eyes
Sad eyes
You can't disguise sad eyes
The lyrics in Crystal Castles's song "Sad Eyes" depict the struggle of a woman who is trying to hide her pain and sadness behind a veil, but her eyes reveal the true sadness and heartache she feels. The shadows cast around her further emphasize her isolation and loneliness. The lyrics also touch upon the idea of discouraging affection, which suggests that the woman has been hurt in the past and is hesitant to trust anyone again. Despite her attempts to feign care and warmth, she cannot disguise her sad eyes, which reveal her true emotions.
The repeated use of the phrase "sad eyes" throughout the song underscores the constant pain and suffering the woman is experiencing. The lyrics suggest that the woman's attempts to hide her pain only make it more apparent, as the lyrics paint a picture of a woman who is struggling to move on from her past traumas. The use of repetition creates a sense of hopelessness, as if the woman is trapped in her pain and can't escape it.
Line by Line Meaning
She wears her veil at night
She hides herself from the world at night, perhaps because she is ashamed of something or wants to keep something a secret.
Shadows cast uninvite
Shadows create an unwelcome atmosphere for her, making her feel like an outsider.
Discourage affection
She does not want anyone to get emotionally attached to her, possibly because she fears being hurt.
Sad eyes
Her eyes are filled with sadness, revealing her pain and struggles.
Sad eyes
Her eyes are filled with sadness, revealing her pain and struggles.
You can't disguise sad eyes
Even if she tries to hide her pain, the sadness in her eyes will always give her away.
Feign care and warm concern
She pretends to care about others, but her actions show that she is not truly invested in their well-being.
The kiss you did not earn
She is not interested in giving her affection to just anyone, especially someone who does not deserve it.
Discourage affection
She does not want anyone to get emotionally attached to her, possibly because she fears being hurt.
Sad eyes
Her eyes are filled with sadness, revealing her pain and struggles.
Sad eyes
Her eyes are filled with sadness, revealing her pain and struggles.
You can't disguise sad eyes
Even if she tries to hide her pain, the sadness in her eyes will always give her away.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALICE GLASS, ETHAN KATH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
GrandPrixAlessio
Never seeing CC live is one of my greatest regrets
Pamela Vasquez
Saw them live once. I will never forget...
Jasmine Escobar
@brandon my mother got back at me for not graduating on time but I mean I did after but still she punished me on not going to the one at Pomona Glass house 🥺 that one definitely hurt.
Raven Rainbow
@edit name The only song I really love is the one with the lyrics sleep it off. It's wonderful. Especially when the pitch is altered a bit.
edit name
@Raven Rainbow you are talking like she’s dead, but Alice is pretty much alive and creating her own music now
Elliott Henderson
+1
kelly
why is this so good?? i can’t describe my feelings when listening to this song
seaworldwater
It's just so hard to explain
Punk Ratt
Idk I feel like something big is happening and it's going to an end
Jure Primorac
Feels like heroin?!