Crystal Castles

Formation and early releases (2004 to 2007)

Ethan Kath, born Claudio Palmieri, met Alice Glass, born Margaret Osborn, in Toronto when Glass was in the tenth grade and Kath was approximately ten years older. Kath had prior experience in the local music scene, appearing on television with his previous band, Kïll Cheerleadër. A couple of years after their initial meeting, Kath invited Glass to record vocals over instrumental tracks he had been developing since 2003. One of these early sessions produced the track Alice Practice, which was initially shelved for six months before being posted online. The raw, aggressive track quickly garnered attention, leading the duo to formally collaborate and choose the name Crystal Castles, inspired by a line from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power. Their musical influences included pioneering electronic acts such as Kraftwerk, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Yello.

The track Alice Practice became the band's first limited vinyl release in 2006, pressed as a 7-inch single. Demand for the song grew significantly after Glass mimed to it on the British television series Skins. Throughout 2006 and 2007, Crystal Castles released several more limited-edition 7-inch vinyl singles on various independent labels, including two on London's Trouble Records. These early releases established their signature sound, which Kath described in February 2008 as an attempt to create the most annoying sounds ever for Glass to scream over, with a goal to open for the Japanese noise band Melt Banana. This period of prolific single output built a strong underground following and set the stage for their debut album.

Breakthrough with debut and second albums (2008 to 2011)

On March 18, 2008, Lies Records compiled the early singles along with unreleased material to form the band's self-titled debut album, Crystal Castles. The album featured deliberately abrasive tracks like XXZXCUZX ME and was later included in NME's Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade list at number 39. That same year, the band faced controversy over their unauthorized use of artist Trevor Brown's image of Madonna with a black eye as their logo, which was resolved after they purchased the rights. In another early incident, a demo track called Insectica that used samples from a Creative Commons-licensed song by Lo-bat was uploaded to a label MySpace page without Kath's permission or proper credit, and another track, Love and Caring, sampled drums from Covox's Sunday. The band engaged in extensive touring to support the album, performing at major festivals including Ireland's Oxegen, New Jersey's All Points West, Coachella, Poland's Heineken Open'er, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Their live performances became legendary for Glass's intense stage antics, which included climbing rigging and stage-diving, leading to their Glastonbury Festival set being curtailed by organizers in June 2008. The band played five dates supporting Nine Inch Nails in August 2008 and performed at Connect 2008 and the Iceland Airwaves festival. Over Halloween 2008, they played a show in Los Angeles where Glass wrecked the drum kit. In July 2009, they supported Blur at one of their comeback shows in London's Hyde Park and also performed at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee and Toronto's Time Festival at the Sound Academy.

Recording for the second album began in late 2009, with Kath producing instrumental tracks in isolated locations like an unheated abandoned church in Iceland, a self-built cabin in northern Ontario, and a garage behind an abandoned drug store in Detroit, as well as in Paul Epworth's London studio. Kath stated the cold in Iceland was so severe he could hear himself shivering on the recordings. Glass recorded vocals for 35 of the 70 tracks Kath presented to her on a CD-R. The resulting album, released on May 24, 2010, and often referred to as Crystal Castles (II) or simply (II), presented a more focused aesthetic blending synth-pop and loud rock. An early leak prompted the label to release it prior to the originally planned June date. The album charted at number 48 in the UK, number 188 in the US, and number 25 in Australia. Its singles included Celestica, Baptism, and a version of Not in Love featuring Robert Smith of the Cure, which became their highest-charting single at the time. In 2011, the band won the John Peel Award for Innovation at the Shockwaves NME Awards, and Rolling Stone named them icons of 20 Years of Lollapalooza.

The band's touring schedule remained relentless in support of the second album. To support the album, the band played the Latitude Festival, Glastonbury 2010, RockNess 2010, and the Pohoda Festival in Slovakia. They also performed at the Exit Festival in Serbia, the Emmabodafestivalen in Sweden, and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Wales. Crystal Castles did a full-length UK tour in November 2010 and headlined the Hard Festival 2010.

• Latitude Festival, Glastonbury 2010, RockNess 2010, and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Wales in 2010.
• The Pohoda Festival in Slovakia, the Exit Festival in Serbia, and the SOS 4.8 festival in Spain in 2010.
• A full UK tour in November 2010 and headlining the Hard Festival in 2010.
• Headlining the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2011 in the UK alongside Magnetic Man, Everything Everything and the Vaccines.
• Performances at the 2011 Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Denmark's NorthSide Festival, Australia's Big Day Out, and Bestival.
• The last night of Oxegen 2011 in Ireland and Moogfest in Asheville, North Carolina.

In January 2011, Alice Glass broke her ankle and had to perform some shows on crutches. Despite this, the band headlined the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2011 in the United Kingdom. They also performed at the 2011 Ultra Music Festival in Miami and the Danish music festival NorthSide Festival in Aarhus. The band maintained their reputation with performances at Australia's Big Day Out festival and Bestival.

Third album and departure of Alice Glass (2012 to 2014)

In March 2012, Crystal Castles relocated to Warsaw, Poland, to begin work on their third album. The first single, Plague, debuted at a live performance at the Parklife festival on June 9, 2012, and was officially released on July 25, 2012. A second single, Wrath of God, followed on September 26, 2012. The band performed on the Main Stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2012 and also appeared at Ireland's Electric Picnic and The Parklife Weekender in Manchester. They toured North America in the fall of 2012 with old collaborators HEALTH. The album, titled (III), was released on November 7, 2012, and marked a deliberate shift in their recording process as Kath decided to forgo the use of computers and ditched their old synthesizers and keyboards, recording each track in one take to achieve a less practised, more original sound. The album yielded two further singles, Sad Eyes in January 2013 and Affection in April 2013, while a planned fifth single, Telepath, did not materialize.

The band continued to tour extensively behind (III) throughout 2013, including a return to Australia for the Big Day Out festival and a performance at the Estéreo Picnic Festival in Bogotá, Colombia. Following the North American leg of their headlining tour, the group performed as the opening act for Depeche Mode on The Delta Machine Tour, performing in Phoenix, Mountain View, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Dallas, and Houston. On October 24, 2014, Alice Glass announced via a Facebook post that she was leaving Crystal Castles to pursue a solo career, stating the band was finished. Crystal Castles' manager assured fans that the band would continue without her, setting the stage for a new chapter with a different vocalist.

New vocalist and final album (2015 to 2016)

On April 16, 2015, Ethan Kath released a new Crystal Castles track titled Frail, featuring a new vocalist named Edith Frances. In a since-deleted caption, Kath wished Glass well but claimed she did not appear on the band's well-known songs, a statement Glass called manipulative and countered by saying she helped shape the band's aesthetic from the very beginning. A second track, Deicide, was released on July 2, 2015. The new lineup made its live debut on November 27, 2015, at the Soundswild Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. In February 2016, they played two sold-out shows at London's Electrowerkz, followed by a U.S. festival tour during Spring 2016. The band was initially included in the lineup for the feminism-centric 79 Cents event at SXSW, organized by Tumblr to highlight women's income disparity, but was removed after Glass publicly criticized Kath's participation in an interview with The Verge, stating her opinion that he was not a suitable person for such an event.

In July 2016 they released the single Char and announced the twelve-track album Amnesty (I) set for release on August 19 through Fiction Records. Also announced was a world tour starting in September 2016, including their first appearance in Hong Kong at the Clockenflap Festival on November 27, 2016. The album represented a new chapter for the band with Frances as frontwoman, though it retained the group's foundational electronic and chaotic sound. In 2017, Kath announced that he and Frances had recorded new demos for a planned follow-up album, Amnesty (II), and scheduled a North American leg of touring for that year following the success of their world tour.

Allegations, legal issues, and inactivity (2017 to present)

On October 24, 2017, Alice Glass published a statement that detailed events of Kath subjecting her to sexual, physical and mental abuse during her time in Crystal Castles. She alleged these patterns of abuse began when she started recording with Kath and continued to escalate until her eventual departure, and that he controlled her finances and passport, prevented her from having her own cell phone or credit card until a couple of years before she left, and made her perform against doctor's orders while suffering from a concussion. Kath responded the same day in a statement issued to Pitchfork through his attorney, where he called the accusations pure fiction and said he was consulting with his lawyers as to his legal options. However the band cancelled the rest of their North American tour in light of Glass's accusations, and it was revealed after the accusations that the band's longtime manager James Sandom no longer worked with the group.

Legal and investigative proceedings followed Glass's allegations. Kath sued Glass for defamation, but his suit was dismissed by the court. On December 21, 2017, Police Constable Allyson Douglas-Cook of the Toronto Police Service confirmed that Kath, under his real name Palmieri, was the subject of a Sex Crimes unit investigation. Later, in an interview with The Daily Beast, Glass and four other women came forward alleging that Kath had sexually preyed on them when they were teenagers and he was in his mid to late twenties, using his fame to get in contact with them at a young age and supplying them with drugs and alcohol. Glass further elaborated in an interview with The Guardian, describing incidents where Kath had thrown her phone out of a moving car, torn her hair out and lied about the nature of her rib injury, and that he would threaten to replace her with someone who would put up with a lot worse if she ever thought of leaving. After discovering Kath had done similar actions towards other women, Glass felt it was her responsibility to come forward, and she has since disavowed her work with Crystal Castles and asked fans to cease their support of the band. Crystal Castles has been inactive since 2017, having not released any new material, performed any concerts, or provided any updates on its status.

Musical style and critical reception

Crystal Castles' musical style was described by reviewer Jack Shankly as ferocious, asphyxiating sheets of warped two-dimensional Gameboy glitches and bruising drum bombast that pierces your skull with their sheer shrill force, burrowing deep into the brain like a fever. In a 2008 review for the BBC, Sophie Hammer wrote that to listen to Crystal Castles is to be cast adrift in a vortex of deafening pain without a safety net, and that it gave listeners the feeling you could do anything in the world, but that nothing would ultimately mean anything. Their early work was characterized by homemade, chaotic productions using distorted sounds and pounding drum machine beats. Over their four albums, their sound evolved to incorporate more structured songwriting and clearer vocal melodies, particularly on their second and third records, while maintaining an underlying sense of tension and noise. The recording of their third album, done without computers in single takes, was noted for giving the music a less practised, more immediate quality.

Their live performances were noted for high energy and a chaotic atmosphere, with Glass's stage-diving and intense presence becoming a defining feature of their shows. Fan reviews from concerts often mention the intense energy, heavy use of stage fog, mosh pits, and crowd surfing. Publications like The Music called them infamous for their anarchic, and raucous, live shows, while CLASH Magazine described them as one of the most vital and original acts of the early millennium. Pitchfork noted their unique ability to smuggle goth, rave, synthesized pop, electro and a festival-ready live act into rock crowds. Despite the controversy surrounding their dissolution, their first three albums remain touchstones for their genre, and their work continues to be discovered by new listeners.

Discography and tours

Crystal Castles released four studio albums over their active career. Their debut eponymous album was released in 2008 and was included in NME's 'Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade' list. Their second album, released in 2010, charted at number 48 in the UK and number 188 in the US. Their third album, (III), was released in 2012, and their fourth album, Amnesty (I), was released in 2016. Their later work was overshadowed by internal conflict and allegations.

In addition to these albums, the band released numerous singles and EPs, beginning with the limited vinyl run of Alice Practice in 2006. Other notable singles include Crimewave, Celestica, Baptism, Not in Love featuring Robert Smith, Plague, Wrath of God, Sad Eyes, Affection, Frail, Deicide, and Char. Their early material was compiled from various limited singles for their debut album. While demos for a fifth album, Amnesty (II), were recorded in 2017, it was never officially released due to the band's abrupt inactivity.

The band undertook several major concert tours corresponding to their album cycles, which were instrumental in building their international reputation. Their primary tours were the Crystal Castles Tour from 2007 to 2009 supporting their debut, which included headlining a Vice magazine tour across the UK in November 2007 and the 2008 NME New Noise tour. The Crystal Castles II Tour ran from 2010 to 2012 following their second album. The Crystal Castles III Tour covered 2012 to 2013 in support of their third album. The final Amnesty (I) Tour began in 2016 and was scheduled to run into 2017 but was cancelled midway through its North American leg.

Questions about Crystal Castles

What happened to Crystal Castles?

Crystal Castles became inactive in 2017 following serious allegations of abuse made by original vocalist Alice Glass against co-founder Ethan Kath. After Glass published her statement in October 2017, the band cancelled their remaining tour dates. Kath denied the accusations and sued for defamation, but the lawsuit was dismissed. The Toronto Police Service confirmed an investigation into Kath by its Sex Crimes unit. The band has not released new music, performed, or provided any updates on its status since that time, effectively ending its active period.

Who are the members of Crystal Castles?

The primary members of Crystal Castles were Ethan Kath, the instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter, and vocalist Alice Glass from the band's 2005 formation until her departure in 2014. Following Glass's exit, vocalist Edith Frances joined Kath in 2015 and performed on the final album and tour. The band also featured several touring drummers over the years, including Christopher Chartrand, who played from 2006 until the band's end, and earlier drummers Cameron Findlay, Thomas Cullen, and Mike Bell. Kath and Glass were the creative core for the majority of the band's recorded output and public identity.

How many albums did Crystal Castles release?

Crystal Castles released four studio albums. Their self-titled debut, Crystal Castles, was released in 2008. Their second album, often called Crystal Castles (II) or (II), followed in 2010. Their third album, titled (III), was released in 2012. Their fourth and final album, Amnesty (I), featuring new vocalist Edith Frances, was released in 2016. The band also released a significant number of limited vinyl singles and EPs prior to their debut album, which helped build their initial reputation.

Why did Alice Glass leave Crystal Castles?

Alice Glass announced her departure from Crystal Castles in October 2014 via a Facebook post, citing personal and professional reasons and stating her intention to pursue a solo career. At the time, she declared the band was finished. The band's management immediately stated that Crystal Castles would continue without her. Three years later, in 2017, Glass publicly detailed the reasons behind her departure, alleging she had endured years of sexual, physical, and mental abuse from Ethan Kath, which created an untenable environment leading to her exit.

What is Crystal Castles' most popular song?

One of Crystal Castles' most commercially successful and recognizable songs is Not in Love, a track from their 2010 album that was re-released as a single featuring Robert Smith of the Cure. This version became their highest-charting single. Other notable and popular tracks among fans include Alice Practice from their early singles, Celestica, Baptism, and Plague. Their music often gained traction through use in television, film, and video games, as well as through their intense and memorable live performances at major festivals worldwide.

Are Crystal Castles touring in 2026?

No, Crystal Castles are not touring in 2026 or any year following 2017. While some online sources and ticket vendors may have listed speculative or outdated tour dates for 2026, the band has been completely inactive since cancelling their 2017 tour. There have been no official announcements, new music releases, or performances by Ethan Kath or Edith Frances under the Crystal Castles name since the allegations surfaced in late 2017. Any promoted tours are not affiliated with the actual, now-defunct group.

Sources and further reading

• Crystal Castles (Wikipedia)
• Crystal Castles Tickets, 2026 to 2027 Concert Tour Dates (ticketmaster.ca)
• Crystal Castles, Toronto (wavelengthmusic.ca)

Checked by the Yadude Books desk. Last updated 2026-10-30.