When ex-Crystal
Castles vocalist Alice Glass was asked what she finds most surprising about the
release of her self-titled debut solo EP, she replied … “that you can hear my
voice clearly.” She says this like she believes it's a good thing.In truth, it's also a bit of a porky. Or at least a stretch. Sure, we get to hear her voice more clearly than we did when her mostly chopped up vocals were key to three terrific Crystal Castles albums, but what she really means is that on this EP we get to hear her very heavily autotuned voice more clearly. Which might be a different thing altogether.
Because that voice
is weak. Thin. And there's clearly a good reason Ethan Kath opted to bury
Alice's vocal deep in the mix on much of that Crystal Castles work. On those
occasions he wasn't slicing it up into tiny little strips and making an
instrument out of it, that is. That worked. This doesn't.
So the much
anticipated (for some) Alice Glass return, a full two years after her first
solo release, the one-off single, 'Stillbirth', is something of a minor let down.
Despite production assistance from Jupiter Keyes (ex-HEALTH), who adds the
electro-pop flourishes Glass fans will be most familiar with.
But he's not Kath, this
feels a little bit like cheap imitation, and there's something missing. It’s just
as likely a lack of tunes, and this six-track EP is all a bit ordinary. Even
that feels like high praise. The highlight is the pre-release
"single", 'Without Love', which opens proceedings. From there, it
just becomes a slippery slope.
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