Crystal Castles reveal politically-charged album cover, share a surprisingly hopeful new song

The Toronto duo return with (III).

Following self-titled efforts in both 2008 and 2010, Crystal Castles will release (III) on November 5. The album was produced entirely by the band’s Ethan Kath.

Vocalist Alice Glass has said that “there’s lots of themes [to the album] but feeling, like, oppressed… A lot of things not personally happening to us, since the past record, but people we know kind of profoundly influenced everything.”

That seemingly-vague description of (III) gives context the album’s artwork, a stark reworking of an award-winning photograph of Yemeni woman Fatima al-Qaws cradling her son, Zayed, who had been injured in an anti-government protest (via Pitchfork).

The album includes ‘Plague’, the band’s foray into danceable noise, and ‘Wrath of God’ (which is available to download below). A twinkling piano melody cuts through the airier moments of ‘Wrath of God’, finding hope amid one of the band’s signature claustrophobic compositions. ‘Plague’ recently received a possession-laced video.

In addition to the release of the album, the band will be touring the UK, North America, and Australia through the new year. Those dates are below.

Tour:
09-27 Charlotte, NC – Fillmore Charlotte *
09-28 Fairburn, GA – Counterpoint Music Festival *
09-29 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club *
10-02 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory *
10-03 New York, NY – Roseland *
10-06 Boston, MA – House of Blues *
10-07 Montreal, Quebec *#
10-09 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre *#
10-10 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
10-11 Nashville, TN – Marathon Art Works *#
10-14 Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
10-16 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater *#
10-17 Denver, CO – Ogden *#
10-18 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue *#
10-20 Los Angeles, CA – Palladium *#
10-21 San Diego, CA – Soma *#
10-22 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater *#
10-24 Portland, OR – Roseland *#
10-25 Seattle, WA – Showbox Sodo *#
10-26 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore *#
10-28 Calgary, Alberta – *#
10-29 Edmonton, Alberta – Edmonton Event Centre *#
10-31 Winnipeg, Manitoba – Burton Cummings Theatre *#
11-01 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue *#
11-02 Chicago, IL – Congress *#
11-04 Toronto, Ontario – Kool Haus *#
11-22 Institute – Birmingham
11-23 Norwich U.E.A. – Norwich
11-24 Brixton Academy – London
11-26 02 ABC – Glasgow
11-27 Academy – Leeds
11-28 Manchester Academy – Manchester
01-18 Sydney, Australia – Big Day Out
01-20 Gold Coast, Australia – Big Day Out
01-25 Adelaide, Australia – Big Day Out
01-26 Melbourne, Australia – Big Day Out
01-28 Perth, Australia – Big Day Out