"Courtship Dating" is a song recorded by the Canadian

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass. Crystal Castles was known for their chaotic live shows and lo-fi music, lo-fi melanc ...

for their debut studio album, ''

'' (2008). It was released on 21 April 2008 through Different, PIAS, and Last Gang, as the third single from the album. It was ranked as one of the best songs of the year by multiple publications.

Background and composition

"Courtship Dating" was recorded in 2006. It was written by

members

Ethan Kath Claudio Paolo Palmieri (born December 25, 1977), known professionally as Ethan Kath, is a Canadian musician. He was the co-founder and songwriter/producer for Crystal Castles and bassist of Kïll Cheerleadër and Die Mannequin. Biography Early ...

and

Alice Glass Margaret Osborn (born 25 August 1988), known professionally as Alice Glass, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the co-founder and former frontwoman of the electronic band Crystal Castles. In 2014, she embarked on a solo career. She rel ...

, with Kath producing it. According to the ''Independent'', the song "is about human

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proces ...

, the idea of preserving the beauty of a lover the way you would an animal".

Release and reception

released their debut studio album, ''

'', on 18 March 2008 in the United States and on 28 April in the United Kingdom. "Courtship Dating" was digitally released as the album's third single on 21 April through Different, PIAS, and Last Gang. In the United Kingdom, it was released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

through Lies, Last Gang, and Different. Both releases contain a demo, "Trash Hologram". An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by Marc Pannozzo was released in April. According to Brandon Stosuy of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'', it shows darkened footage of Alice Glass singing and "being angsty" with flashes of Ethan Kath "rocking it". In the United Kingdom, "Courtship Dating" peaked on the

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

's Independent Singles Chart at number 4 and their Physical Singles Chart at number 39. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' described "Courtship Dating" it as "synth-pop filled up with muted screams, jerking bass and sparking circuit boards" and "the best piece of humanity-loathing cyborg pop since

the Knife The Knife were a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consisted of siblings Karin and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. They gained a large international following i ...

Silent Shout ''Silent Shout'' is the third studio album by Swedish electronic music duo the Knife, released on 17 February 2006 by Rabid Records. The album is darker than its predecessor, '' Deep Cuts'' (2003). It spawned four singles: " Silent Shout", " Ma ...

". "Courtship Dating" was named one of the best songs of 2008 by ''

laut.de ''laut.de'' is a German online magazine covering music and entertainment. It was founded in Konstanz in 1996 by Rainer Henze ''Pitchfork'', and ''Slant Magazine'', with the latter considering it one of the best tracks from the 2000–2009 period.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the CD liner notes of "Crystal Castles" and the vinyl liner notes of "Courtship Dating". *

writer (1) *

writer, producer (1, 2) *

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

backing screams (1) *Alex Bonenfant additional vocal recording (1) *

Squeak E. Clean Sam Spiegel (born October 31, 1979), known by the stage name Sam i and previously as Squeak E. Clean, is an American DJ, record producer, composer, and director from New York City. In addition to creating his own material, Spiegel has worked ...

vocal production (1) *Lexxx mixing (1) *Graham Turner photo

Accolades

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2008 singles 2008 songs Crystal Castles songs Songs written by Ethan Kath Songs written by Alice Glass PIAS Recordings singles