Amnesty (I)

Amnesty (I), also titled Amnesty I[10] and sometimes referred to as Amnesty, is the fourth studio album by electronica duo Crystal Castles, released on August 19, 2016, on Fiction Records and Casablanca Records.[11] It is their first album since the departure of previous frontwoman Alice Glass in 2014, and the first to feature new vocalist Edith Frances. It is also their first album not titled after their band name. Amnesty is also the band's shortest album to date, even with the extra runtime on the physical version. On May 16, 2017, Crystal Castles reportedly confirmed that a followup album, Amnesty (II), was in the works.[12] As of December 2020, no other information regarding the album or any new music from the band has surfaced.

Amnesty (I)
Studio album by
Crystal Castles
ReleasedAugust 19, 2016
Recorded2015–2016
StudioKonk Studios (London)[1]
Genre
Length33:14
LabelFiction Records, Casablanca Records
ProducerEthan Kath
Crystal Castles chronology
III
(2012)		 Amnesty (I)
(2016)		 Amnesty (II)
Singles from Amnesty (I)
  1. "Frail"
    Released: April 15, 2015
  2. "Their Kindness Is Charade (as Deicide)"
    Released: July 2, 2015
  3. "Concrete"
    Released: July 6, 2016
  4. "Char"
    Released: July 11, 2016
  5. "Fleece"
    Released: August 16, 2016
  6. "Sadist"
    Released: August 18, 2016
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Clash7/10[4]
Consequence of SoundB-[5]
Drowned in Sound6/10[6]
The Guardian[7]
Pitchfork6.8/10[8]
PopMatters[9]

Release and promotion

On April 15, 2015, Ethan Kath shared a new track titled "Frail" on SoundCloud, writing 'this is Edith on vocals'. The track was released commercially to digital retailers a month later on May 11.[13] Kath shared another track titled "Deicide" on July 2 on SoundCloud, later seeing a commercial digital release on July 10.[14] "Deicide" was later revealed to be a demo for the outro track on Amnesty (I), "Their Kindness Is Charade". In late November 2015, Edith Frances played her first show as the other half of Crystal Castles in South Africa.[15]

On February 29, 2016, the band revealed that they aimed to release the album sometime spring of that year, and confirmed that the 2015 SoundCloud demos "Frail" and "Deicide" would make appearances on the record.[16] For unknown reasons, the record arrived late summer instead of spring 2016.

In the last week of June 2016, the track "Concrete" was leaked[17] on Korean website MNet. With the Concrete leak, fans discovered information about the album via Shazam, such as the title, track list, and cover art. Although the Shazam track list was not in order and the release date was unknown, Amazon Germany accidentally leaked the ordered track list and release date before the album was officially announced on July 11, 2016. The track Concrete was later released as a single on July 6 with an accompanying video on the same day on YouTube.[18][19] 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.[20] On July 11, the band officially announced the new record, 'Amnesty (I)' along with its cover art and track list while also premiering a new single, "Char", as Annie Mac's Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1.[21] The single and pre-order for the album were made available a day later on July 12.[22][23] The fourth pre-order single "Fleece" was made available on August 16 at the band's iTunes page.[24] A CD rip of the album, including the bonus track "Kept", leaked online the same day. The band released "Sadist" on August 18, 2016 via their YouTube channel, followed by the official release of the album on August 19, 2016.[25]

The band took a similar approach to their 2008 debut for Amnesty, as they revealed a majority of the tracks on both albums before they released.

Track listing
Amnesty (I) – Digital edition[26]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Femen"
Kath2:32
2."Fleece"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath2:35
3."Char"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath3:08
4."Enth"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath3:29
5."Sadist"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath2:30
6."Teach Her How to Hunt"KathKath1:55
7."Chloroform"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath3:08
8."Frail"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath2:49
9."Concrete"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath3:16
10."Ornament"
  • Kath
  • Frances
Kath4:07
11."Their Kindness Is Charade"
  • Kath
  • Frances
  • Kath
  • Jake Lee
3:45
Total length:33:18
Amnesty (I) – Physical edition[27]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
11."Kept"
Kath4:03
12."Their Kindness Is Charade"
  • Kath
  • Frances
  • Kath
  • Jake Lee
3:45
Total length:37:21

Notes

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[30] 85
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[31] 182
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 95
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 86
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[34] 2

References
  1. "Meet Crystal Castle' New Singer Edith Frances". Rolling Stone. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  2. "Amnesty (I) by Crystal Castles". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  3. Heather Phares. "Crystal Castles - Amnesty". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  4. Josh Gray (August 18, 2016). "Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)". Clash. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  5. Michael Madden (August 19, 2016). "Crystal Castles – Amnesty (I)". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  6. Dave Hanratty (August 18, 2016). "Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  7. Ally Carnwath (August 21, 2016). "Crystal Castles: Amnesty (I) review – brilliantly disjointed electropop". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  8. Evan Rytlewski (August 30, 2016). "Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  9. Brian Duricy (August 30, 2016). "Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  10. "Amnesty I, by Crystal Castles". Crystal Castles. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  11. "CRYSTAL CASTLES - 'AMNESTY (I)' (LP)". Fiction Records. July 12, 2016. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  12. "Crystal Castles Demoing New Songs For Upcoming Album 'Amnesty (II)'". Music Feeds. 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  13. "Frail - Single by Crystal Castles". iTunes (US). May 11, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  14. "Deicide - Single by Crystal Castles". iTunes (US). July 10, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  15. Murphy, Sarah (November 27, 2015). "Crystal Castles Reveal New Singer Edith Frances". Stereogum. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  16. Gordon, Jeremy. "Crystal Castles to Release New Album This Spring, Announce New Shows". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  17. Earls, John (July 6, 2016). "Watch as Crystal Castles share video for new single 'Concrete'". NME. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  18. Williams, Tom (July 6, 2016). "Crystal Castles Drop New Song 'Concrete' As New Album Details Leak". MusicFeeds. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  19. "Concrete - Single by Crystal Castles". iTunes (US). July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  20. Murphy, Sarah (June 30, 2016). "Crystal Castles Hint at New Album with Cryptic Trailer". Exclaim. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  21. "Crystal Castles - Char". BBC. July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  22. Greg (July 11, 2016). "Crystal Castles release "Char" & announce 'Amnesty (I)' album pre-order". Last Gang. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  23. "Char - Single by Crystal Castles". iTunes (US). July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  24. "Fleece - Single by Crystal Castles". iTunes (US). August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  25. "Amnesty (I) by Crystal Castles". iTunes (US). August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  26. "Amnesty (I) by Crystal Castles on Apple Music". iTunes Store (US). Apple. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  27. "CRYSTAL CASTLES - 'AMNESTY (I)' (CD)". Fiction Records. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  28. "Smells like teen spirit - Scala & Kolacny Brothers". YouTube. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  29. "Crystal Castles: Amnesty (I) (CD) - jpc". jpc. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  30. "Ultratop.be – Crystal Castles – Amnesty (I)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  31. "Ultratop.be – Crystal Castles – Amnesty (I)" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  32. "Swisscharts.com – Crystal Castles – Amnesty (I)". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  33. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  34. "Crystal Castles Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
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