Amnesty (I) is the fourth full-length album by electronica duo Crystal Castles, released on August 19, 2016, on Fiction Records and Casablanca Records.[10] It is the first album since the departure of previous frontwoman Alice Glass in 2014, and the first to feature new vocalist Edith Frances. Released nearly four years after the band's previous album, it marks the longest gap between consecutive studio albums by the group.
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 digitally on iTunes a month later on May 11.[11] Kath shared another track "Deicide" on July 2 on soundcloud, it was released on iTunes on July 10.[12] A new version of "Deicide" was later released on the album under the title "Their Kindness Is Charade". In late November 2015, Edith Frances played her first show as the other half of Crystal Castles in South Africa.[13]
In the last week of June 2016, the track "Concrete" was leaked[14] on Korean website MNet. The track was later released as a single on July 6 with an accompanying video on the same day on YouTube.[15][16] 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.[17] On July 11, the band announced the new record, 'Amnesty (I)' along with its cover art and track list and also premiering "Char" as Annie Mac's Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1.[18] The single and pre-order for the album were made available a day later on July 12.[19][20] The fourth, and last pre-order single "Fleece" was made available on August 16 at the band's iTunes page,[21] followed by the official release of the album on August 19, 2016[22]