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.
Violent Youth
Crystal Castles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drink up little girl
And they will always let you down
Hold your motherโs pearl
Show up in your lace
Up to your cheekbones
Prevention is the only cure
Throw up in your plate
Look angelical
If you sleep before I arrive
Iโll pray for you my girl
A flower on fire
And I will always let you down
The lyrics of Crystal Castles's Violent Youth are quite disturbing, yet mesmerizing. The song describes a young girl who is going through a difficult phase in her life. She is trying to deal with her problems by drinking and partying. The lines, "Show up in your lace, drink up little girl" indicate that she is trying to escape from her reality by indulging in these activities. However, the lyrics also hint at the fact that she is aware that this will not solve her problems, "And they will always let you down, hold your mother's pearl, prevention is the only cure." This shows that she is aware that she needs to find a way to prevent herself from falling into this vicious cycle.
The lines "Look angelical, if you sleep before I arrive, I'll pray for you my girl," depict a sense of desperation in the singer. She is trying to hold onto the hope that things will get better for her. The line "a flower on fire" is particularly poignant. It draws a beautiful yet painful image of a young girl whose spirit is burning bright, yet is in danger of being consumed by her circumstances. The lyrics, "And I will always let you down" suggest that there is someone who is supposed to be caring for the girl but is failing to do so.
Overall, the lyrics of Violent Youth are haunting and powerful. They paint a vivid picture of a young girl who is struggling to find her place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Show up in your lace
Appear in your delicate clothing
Drink up little girl
Consuming alcohol or substance, young lady
And they will always let you down
They will always disappoint you
Hold your motherโs pearl
Keep your precious possession safe and guarded
Up to your cheekbones
Even up to your face
Prevention is the only cure
Avoidance is the sole solution
Kiss them through windows
Exchange kisses through a barrier
Throw up in your plate
Vomit on your own dish
Look angelical
Have an angelic, innocent appearance
If you sleep before I arrive
If you rest before my presence
Iโll pray for you my girl
I will ask for divine intervention for you, dear
A flower on fire
A beautiful object burning in flames
And I will always let you down
I will continually disappoint you
Lyrics ยฉ Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALICE GLASS, ETHAN KATH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anon
Show up in your lace
Drink up little girl
And they will always let you down
Hold your motherโs pearl
Show up in your lace
Up to your cheekbones
Prevention is the only cure
Kiss them through windows
Throw up in your plate
Look angelical
If you sleep before I arrive
Iโll pray for you my girl
A flower on fire
And I will always let you down
Diego Neira
Show up in your lace
Drink up little girl
And they will always let you down
Hold your motherโs pearl
Show up in your lace
Up to your cheekbones
Prevention is the only cure
Kiss them through windows
Throw up in your plate
Look angelical
If you sleep before I arrive
Iโll pray for you my girl
A flower on fire
And I will always let you down
Adkins Kayne
3:09
What I felt
Breathe into your fear
I'm running from, what you can't see
Nothing has me
To be a reminding of her
Slipping and foolish
I drift away to nightmares
Slowly shining
I see a lining mirage
Words slither nightfall
My demons, they won't let me
In all I need I
I see a lining mirage
What I felt
I see a lining mirage
Words slither nightfall
my demons, they won't let me
inkajoo
When I fell
I can allay your fear
But I ran from frequency
Nothing has meaning
Clean of all reminder
Slit me with no face
Vaginal wreaths in each hair
Snarkily shines to her
See a lying mirage
Arms within I fall
My demons they lie near me
My calling, my wish
See a lying mirage
When I fell
See a lying mirage
Arms within I fall
My demons they lie near me
Anon
Show up in your lace
Drink up little girl
And they will always let you down
Hold your motherโs pearl
Show up in your lace
Up to your cheekbones
Prevention is the only cure
Kiss them through windows
Throw up in your plate
Look angelical
If you sleep before I arrive
Iโll pray for you my girl
A flower on fire
And I will always let you down
Frank Perron
๐ฅฒ
Kreis Khaos
@Pogger Frogger the guy in CC who typically does the music. Sometimes he sings in the songs.
Pogger Frogger
@kuszynier who?
M
@kuszynier what????? Omg I thought it was Alice singing that, thatโs freaky especially after the abuse she suffered from him. I dispise abusers, I was in one so badly I could have of died. I love Alice I hope sheโs recovered!
karakal3248
@kuszynier It's Ethan? Damn, I didnโt know. It really does make them much more disturbing.
Yung Mung Bean
The harmony that starts at 2:30 is beautiful
inkajoo
I can't believe Anthony Fantano gave this album a 4. What a hobgoblin!
xxcuzzmee
literally who?
419chris419
@august why?