Alice Glass Carves Her Own Freedom On ‘Mine’

Free from the shackles of Crystal Castles, Alice Glass has never sounded so clean. Starting her debut, solo Australian tour over the weekend, Glass has released her new single, Mine.

Dropping her solo, self-titled EP last year, Glass still sounded buried—shrouded in thickets of electro madness. In her songwriting, she attempted to recontextualise the years of physical and mental abuse suffered from her former bandmate. On tracks like Natural Selection and White Lies, Glass didn’t stray too far from her Crystal Castles sonic aesthetic—thanks to former HEALTH member, Juniper Keys. On her EP, Glass was angry. On Mine, she is bounding for freedom.

Glass’ vocals have never been higher and clearer in the mix in any of her current and former work. It’s a nice change. A focus on the lyrics, rather than the brutalising electronic madness. Mine is transfixing and, with its accompanying video, Glass is building her own gothic, distorted world. Akin of other Canadian left-field popsters, such as Grimes, Hana Truly and Purity Ring, she forms electro-pop in an exciting and percolating new form. Glass describes the track:

“Mine is about someone who hurts themselves in an attempt to regain control of their own life and experiences. It’s a form of self-sacrifice and also an act of personal freedom for someone who feels completely out of control. I do not condone self-harm, but like a lot of my music Mine is about my struggle with coming out of an intensely abusive relationship. In the ritual of hurting myself or taking something from myself I am at the very least in control of that act, when in so many other aspects of my life I felt hopeless,” explains Glass.

Alice Glass is currently on tour in Australia alongside goth princess Zola Jesus. They have two more shows this week. Stream Mine below.

Alice Glass Live Dates
w/ Zola Jesus

SUN 17 JUNE
Corner Hotel, Melbourne
TUES 19 JUNE
Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
SAT 23 JUNE
Dark Mofo, Hobart
TICKETS