Darkwave veteran Alice Glass has re-emerged with PREY//IV, her debut solo album and first release in five years. The record — a decidedly anti-Ethan Kath body of work and self-described "culmination of years of literal blood, sweat, sobs, screams and tears" — is no easy listen, and it shouldn't be. Tackling uneasy topics such as trauma, revenge, domestic and sexual abuse with cathartic reverie, the artist born Margaret Osborn hits back at an abuser she's feared for years with violent jubilation.
As much as PREY//IV is a triumph, its topics also inhabit a deeply uncomfortable headspace; the work is near inseparable from the trauma that inspired it, and thus should come with a heavy trigger warning for listeners. Standout single "SUFFER AND SWALLOW" embodies the very evil Osborn endured succinctly, with the artist weaponizing psychologically torturous tactics in its lyrics, flipping and aiming them back at her abuser.
It's an artistic choice the musician leans into throughout the record, which seems to bounce lyrically between direct quotes and descriptions of the heinous acts themselves. "PINNED BENEATH LIMBS" is another such example, a song whose words speak to isolation tactics used by perpetrators of abuse: "Don't talk to your friends / Don't talk to your family / Don't tell anyone / You're not worth believing," Glass sings.
Much like Osborn's 2017 EP, PREY//IV is nestled somewhere between the aesthetic worlds of fellow Canadians Nicole Dollanganger and Grimes, as well as American counterparts Salem, 100 gecs and HEALTH. The industrial-hyperpop dabbler employs the gothic cawing of crows and comforting purrs of cats on a pair of songs, and elsewhere on the album's 13 tracks, she sprinkles in tasteful doses of static haze, blood-drenched spoken word and trap production. "BABY TEETH" in particular is an exploration into darker hyperpop palettes, while "WITCH HUNT" and "SUFFER IN PEACE" offer glitchier, witch house-derived elements that Osborn inhabits quite naturally.
On the whole, PREY//IV expresses a dance-when-you're-sad energy that Glass and Kath never quite achieved with Crystal Castles, and that Kath and Glass stand-in Edith Frances have yet to capture since the enigmatic former frontwoman's departure. The combined influences of genre showcase an artist coming into her own unified sound, after years of toiling with an identity that could have been stripped from her, had she not been as resilient as she shows herself to be on this debut. If nothing else, PREY//IV proves that society has moved past the need for Crystal Castles. Long may Alice Glass reign in their stead.
(Eating Glass Records)As much as PREY//IV is a triumph, its topics also inhabit a deeply uncomfortable headspace; the work is near inseparable from the trauma that inspired it, and thus should come with a heavy trigger warning for listeners. Standout single "SUFFER AND SWALLOW" embodies the very evil Osborn endured succinctly, with the artist weaponizing psychologically torturous tactics in its lyrics, flipping and aiming them back at her abuser.
It's an artistic choice the musician leans into throughout the record, which seems to bounce lyrically between direct quotes and descriptions of the heinous acts themselves. "PINNED BENEATH LIMBS" is another such example, a song whose words speak to isolation tactics used by perpetrators of abuse: "Don't talk to your friends / Don't talk to your family / Don't tell anyone / You're not worth believing," Glass sings.
Much like Osborn's 2017 EP, PREY//IV is nestled somewhere between the aesthetic worlds of fellow Canadians Nicole Dollanganger and Grimes, as well as American counterparts Salem, 100 gecs and HEALTH. The industrial-hyperpop dabbler employs the gothic cawing of crows and comforting purrs of cats on a pair of songs, and elsewhere on the album's 13 tracks, she sprinkles in tasteful doses of static haze, blood-drenched spoken word and trap production. "BABY TEETH" in particular is an exploration into darker hyperpop palettes, while "WITCH HUNT" and "SUFFER IN PEACE" offer glitchier, witch house-derived elements that Osborn inhabits quite naturally.
On the whole, PREY//IV expresses a dance-when-you're-sad energy that Glass and Kath never quite achieved with Crystal Castles, and that Kath and Glass stand-in Edith Frances have yet to capture since the enigmatic former frontwoman's departure. The combined influences of genre showcase an artist coming into her own unified sound, after years of toiling with an identity that could have been stripped from her, had she not been as resilient as she shows herself to be on this debut. If nothing else, PREY//IV proves that society has moved past the need for Crystal Castles. Long may Alice Glass reign in their stead.