Alice Glass

First known as Crystal Castles’ dynamic frontwoman before launching her own career, Alice Glass combined volatility and vulnerability with both projects. The duo’s acclaimed trilogy of self-titled albums — which began with 2008′s Crystal Castles and culminated with 2012′s Crystal Castles (III) — were defined as much by her alternately whispered and wailed vocals as the lo-fi electronics surrounding them. After leaving the group due to alleged abuse at the hands of bandmate Ethan Kath, Glass remade herself as a solo artist capable of channeling her trauma and recovery into direct, cathartic songs like 2021′s “Mine.”
Born Margaret Osborn in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Glass survived a difficult relationship with her parents and troubles at Catholic school thanks to her love of music. After getting her first guitar at age 11, she became a part of the city’s punk community and founded the experimental punk band Fetus Fatale while still in her teens. In 2003, she met Ethan Kath at one of the band’s shows, and the 15-year-old Glass soon began working with him on the project that eventually became Crystal Castles.
The duo officially debuted in 2006 with the single “Alice Practice,” which attracted the attention of London’s Merok Records and appeared on the duo’s 2008 self-titled debut album. Two more albums (2010′s Crystal Castles [II] and Crystal Castles [III]) followed before Glass left the group in 2014. She signed to Loma Vista as a solo artist, releasing her debut single, “Stillbirth,” in 2015. The proceeds from the track’s sales were donated to anti-sexual violence organization RAINN. In August 2017, Glass released the single “Without Love” and her self-titled debut EP, which featured contributions from former HEALTH member Jupiter Keyes and Atticus Ross.
Inspired by the #MeToo movement, that October Glass published a statement alleging Kath abused her sexually, physically, and mentally during the time she worked with him. Kath sued her for defamation the following month, but his suit was dismissed in February 2018 on procedural grounds. That May, a judge awarded Glass nearly $21,000 in attorney fees.
During this time, Glass continued to tour and release music: the single “Cease and Desist” — which she described as a “call to arms for all survivors” — appeared in January 2018, followed by an EP of Alice Glass remixes by tourmates Zola Jesus and Pictureplane that April. That June, she released “Mine,” a single co-written with songwriter Justin Tranter. Later in the year, she contributed the track “I Trusted You” to the Adult Swim compilation Fever Dreams, appeared on Dreamcrusher’s album Grudge2, and featured along with Wicca Phase Springs Eternal on “Dark Alley,” a track from Zubin’s EP Heavy Down Pour.
Early in 2019, Glass made a cameo on Nedarb’s album Amity. In January 2020, her song “Sleep It Off” was included in the soundtrack to The Turning, director Floria Sigismondi’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. That August, Glass’ “Nightmares” featured on the Sermon 4 Anniversary compilation from Sermon 3 Recordings. She closed out the year with a remix of Pabllo Vittar’s “Rajadão” that appeared on the deluxe version of his album 111. January 2021 saw the release of “Suffer and Swallow,” the first track from Glass’ debut album.~ Heather Phares