''Crystal Castles II'' is the second studio album by Canadian

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

duo Crystal Castles, released on May 24, 2010 by Fiction Records and Last Gang Records. The album was initially scheduled for release on June 7, 2010; however, the release dates were moved forward after the album leaked online, thus a digital version of the album was released on April 23, 2010. On April 25, 2011, the album was reissued digitally under the title ''(II)'', which replaced the original version of " Not in Love" with the version featuring Robert Smith (of

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

Background

The album was recorded by Ethan Kath in a variety of locations including an abandoned church in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, a self-built cabin in northern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, a garage behind an abandoned drug store in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, as well as

Paul Epworth Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member o ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

studio. Of the experience, Kath said, "I recorded most of the record in the coldest winter in decades in a church without heat in Iceland. It was so cold that when I listen back I can hear myself shivering. I chose it because it felt right". In December 2009, Kath gave vocalist Alice Glass a CD-R containing 70 instrumental tracks, for which she then recorded vocals on 35 tracks. In order to promote the album, the band released the first single " Celestica" in April and an EP titled ''

Doe Deer ''Doe Deer'' is a song from Toronto-based band, Crystal Castles, released on their second self-titled album, ''Crystal Castles''. The release was limited to 500 copies on 12" vinyl. The EP was a special release for UK's record store day. Prior to ...

'' was released only a few days later. In May the band physically released the album. The album reached number 48 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and number 188 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Later on in December, the duo's cover of the Platinum Blonde song " Not in Love", featuring guest vocals from Robert Smith of

, was released as the album's third single. The single became Crystal Castles' highest-charting single to date.

Critical reception

''Crystal Castles II'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

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, which assigns a

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 24 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Daniel Brockman of '' The Boston Phoenix'' praised the band for creating "a dense-yet-airy thicket of pure pop transcendence."

MusicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

also gave an extremely positive review, describing the album as "bold, dramatic, more than a little screwed-up and stunningly exciting statement." '' Pitchfork'' rated the album 8.5 out of 10, and awarded it their "Best New Music" accolade.

Commercial performance

As of July 2012, ''Crystal Castles'' and ''Crystal Castles II'' had sold a combined 174,000 copies in the United States, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

Accolades

The album was a longlisted nominee for the

2010 Polaris Music Prize The 2010 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 20, 2010."Blue Rodeo, BSS on Polaris long list"
. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', June 17, 2010.

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer. * signifies an additional vocal producer. Sample credits * "Year of Silence" contains a sample of " Inní mér syngur vitleysingur" by

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, active since 1994. The band comprises singer and guitarist Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal sound, fron ...

. * "Vietnam" and "Violent Dreams" contain a sample of "A Walk in the Park" by

Stina Nordenstam Kristina Ulrika Nordenstam (born 4 March 1969), better known by her stage name Stina Nordenstam, is a Swedish singer-songwriter and producer. Life and career Nordenstam was born in Stockholm on 4 March 1969. As a child, she was highly influenc ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Crystal Castles II''. Crystal Castles * Ethan Kath – production ; mixing * Alice Glass – vocals Additional personnel * Lexxx – vocal recording ; mixing *

– additional production, vocal recording ; guitar solo recording ; additional vocal production * Matthew Wagner – vocal recording * Jacknife Lee – production * Alex Bonenfant – vocal recording ; production ; mixing ; guitar recording ; drum recording * Christopher Chartrand – drum solo ; live drums * X Tecumseh Clark – cover model *

Todd Tamanend Clark Prashant jha (born Prashant jha; February 03, 1996) is an Ethical Hacker, Physician, Software developer and activist. He is known for " To save many people from cybercrime , glam fashion consciousness, cyberpunk attitude, and lyrical approa ...

– photograph * Marc Pannozzo – band photo * Nilesh Patel – mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Albums produced by Jacknife Lee Albums produced by Paul Epworth Crystal Castles (band) albums Fiction Records albums Last Gang Records albums Sequel albums