Crystal Castles – ‘Plague’

They still sound dangerous and demented

“There’s no departure. We like how we sound. We don’t wanna change.” So said Crystal Castles’ Ethan Kath in NME two weeks ago, about his as-yet-untitled new album – and typically, he didn’t really say much else. ‘Plague’ is the first song to be released from said album. And for once the words coming from beneath the tattered hood of the mumbliest moaner in music can be taken at face value. It’s a brilliantly horrible and very Crystal Castles name for a song, and sonically, it totally fits the 4am warehouse-rave-on-the-moon feeling that made moments like ‘Celestica’ on that incredible last album untouchable.

Then there’s the ominous thump and nasty bass, plus eerie silences that act like post-apocalyptic drops. ’Course, we still can’t make out a single word of what Alice Glass is screeching on about, but it doesn’t matter. All in all, ‘Plague’’s unheralded arrival from the pits of Ethan and Alice’s Warsaw studio suddenly makes the prospect of their new album the most exciting feeling of the week. Because Crystal Castles haven’t changed. There is no departure. And they still sound dangerous, demented and utterly thrilling.

Jamie Fullerton

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