Crystal Castles — Amnesty (I) Album Review
Crystal Castles’ new album may as well be titled “Forward”. Amnesty means forgiveness and progress. Moving from one stage of life to another is a fitting theme for the duo. Sitting somewhere between the pounding brutality of (II) and the melodic breaths of (III), this album is hard at work getting on.
This band came back from the dead. Alice Glass left in October 2014. Producer Ethan Kath immediately — and vaguely — promised post-Glass continuation ostensibly on his own, but without a singer it was hard to imagine a Crystal Castles. Fans never knew the inner dynamics of the band; the two lived inconspicuously, with meager social and social media presences. News of a rift came as a surprise. On stage, Kath and Glass jammed like two individuals, often with him in the far background and her in the extreme foreground, who had profound respect and reliance on each other. That dynamic hasn’t become clear in the 22 months since, and that vagueness somehow fits the band. Crystal Castles’ music has always contained a poignant facelessness: a voice singing in a darkness, appealing and personal without making you want to turn on the light switch. Crystal Castles wants to jam with you, not to you.
They’re still throbbing with listeners in the darkness. Now back with Edith Frances, the band has found new angle on their singular style. Where Glass’ voice tore, Frances’ glazes. Remarkably, Frances carries the songs with an indistinguishable selflessness from Glass. Anachronistically, Crystal Castles’ instrumentation and vocals complement each other in an even ratio — except for when the former soars. It’s no singer’s band to dominate, and Frances slipped seamlessly into the role.
Kath’s instrumentation remains novel, especially the rhythms. On Amnesty (I), they crash-land and throw you into songs, like on “Concrete” and “Fleece”. They tick and growl under Frances’ lilting chopped vocals on “Sadist” and “Frail”. On “Char,” the music slides between scratchy hip hop thumper and witch-house hymn. “Ornament” and “Kept,” a jubilation likely to be the most popular on this album, spread light further into Kath’s fathomless bag of engrossing melodies. They remind you that Crystal Castles will make you dance, intensely.
Much like the time before and after Glass’ departure must have been, this album contains rough patches. It doesn’t flow like the others did, especially (III). The duo gets vague on tracks like “Teach Her How to Hunt,” “Enth” and “Chloroform,” when the music sounds more like Sunday musings in a home studio than Crystal Castles. Oddly, in the weeks leading up to the album’s release, the band released 8 of the 12 tracks as singles or previews. That may have been to define Amnesty (I) as a sum of songs rather than much of a unitary album.
The band continued their tradition of ending albums on soft songs. (I)’s harrowing “Tell Me What to Swallow” made soft guitar shocking in the album’s context, and (II)’s “I Am Made of Chalk” started bloody like the album it bookends and turned into sentimental swells that foretold (III). That album’s “Child I Will Hurt You” sounded fragile and, retrospectively, dovetailed nicely with its status as Kath and Glass’ last song together. In Amnesty (I), the previously released single Deicide is transformed into the soft warning “Their Kindness Is Charade” which underscores Frances’ softer touch.
Amnesty (I) is a choppy album by an affected Crystal Castles who have evolution and forgiveness on their mind at once. Musically, it displays meaningful strides that indicate more to come when the band gets further from the dust. Not unlike refugees, the cause to which the band will donate the album’s proceeds, Crystal Castles needs time to adjust to their new home. Amnesty (I)’s good news: they’re building on the same solid foundation as the last one.