Crystal Castles have been moving on since the somewhat rocky departure of Alice Glass two years ago. Since the break up, Castles replaced Glass with a new front lady, shared number of new songs, toured about the country to promote the new material, and began working toward what many have speculated to be the release of the duo’s first post-Glass album.
Most recently, the duo has shared the mysterious “Femen” as what seems to be a teaser for the full-length album. The clip plays an unsettling instrumental building up while displaying slightly disturbing images of struggling birds trapped in nets. Check out the video below.
For the most committed fans, the song may sound familiar. According to SPIN, it has been performed before. “Femen” has been played in Peru and Colombia earlier this month at live performances in venues that have yet to be identified. However, the song sounds less a release made for the airwaves as it does an introductory track for more complete songs.
The electronic pop group now consists of two members – original band member Ethan Kath and Glass-replacement Edith Frances. Glass departed from the duo in 2014 from what originally appeared to be creative differences among the two musicians. The frontwoman stated on Twitter “I am leaving Crystal Castles… My art and my self-expression in any always been an attempt towards sincerity, honesty, and empathy for others. For a multitude of reasons both professional and personal I no longer feel that this is possible within Crystal Castles. Although this is the end of the band, I hope my fans will embrace me as a solo artist in the same way they have embraced Crystal Castles.”
The tension between the two continued into 2016. A tweet from Glass led SXSW to drop Crystal Castles from their lineup for their 79 Cents showcase, an event held to bring attention to women’s inequality issues, specifically, the income disparity between men and women in the U.S.
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