Single Review – Crystal Castles – ‘Plague’

This July, the track ‘Plague’ was unleashed onto the realms of the internet, a volatile sign that Crystal Castles third album is indeed on its way. Released as a free download on Soundcloud the track has spread in an irrepressible frenzy; fittingly reminiscent of the nature of disease itself.

Thanks to the atmospheric chaos that Ethan Kath and Alice Glass are capable of reaping from the crowds when they perform live, the duo have succeeded in outliving others who after crashing onto the music scene in the heat surrounding nu-rave have sadly been left behind in the settling dust. Far from stoically bashing out hard electro, their outlook has adapted and in turn manipulated their sound into softer, (dare we say it) house-driven, electronic music, recognisable in their second self-titled album in 2010.

‘Plague’ provokes and demands emotional involvement right from the beginning as a klaxon sounds in an imaginary distance, warning of impending fear and pain. The sense of distance is maintained throughout the track; Alice’s vocals are tantalizing kept under reverb- never quite breaking through – building into a crescendo of increasing agony in her voice as the pounding synth beat remains unrelenting and fierce. Then the transient, ethereal vision, is brought to a haunting end as Alice’s speaks ‘I am the plague’ before her voice fades under the return of the sounding klaxon.

It begs for repeated listening, the beat is, quite frankly, infectious.

By Alexandra MacLeod