"Vanished" 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 July 21, 2008, through Different and PIAS as the album's fourth and final single. The song was composed and produced by member

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 ...

, with vocals sampled from the song "Sex City" by

Van She Van She were an electropop band formed in early 2002 in Sydney, Australia, with Matt Van Schie (pronounced Van Ski) on bass guitar/vocals, Tomek Archer on drum kit, drums/music sequencer, sequencer, Michael Di Francesco on synthesizer, synth/gu ...

, who are credited as writers. "Vanished" has elements of

dark pop Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes ...

, electro,

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

, and

nu-rave New rave (also typeset as nu-rave, nu rave or neu rave) is a genre of music described by ''The Guardian'' as "an in-yer-face, DIY disco riposte to the sensitive indie rock touted by bands like Bloc Party." It is most commonly applied to a Britis ...

, and some critics felt it was lighter than other songs on the ''Crystal Castles'' album. 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 ...

was released in November 2008.

Background and composition

"Vanished" was recorded in 2006. It was composed and produced by the

member

. The song contains a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

of the vocal track and melody of

's "Sex City", used with permission; he is credited as a writer. It leans towards

and has elements of electro,

, and

. Mehan Jayasuriya of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' described the song as "an echoey tunnel of fuzzed-out synths and bouncy, cartoonish tones", while ''

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'' Molly Beauchemin said the song has "echoey, boomeranging, headphones elodies. Writing for '' The Skinny'', Jason Morton described the "

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

beat" as "upbeat but not pounding". Heather Phares of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that the "danceable gloom" of the track evidenced the "remarkable amount of melancholy" that "haunts" the band. Kath provides vocals for "Vanished", instead of the member

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 ...

as usual for the band; Alex Young of ''

Consequence Consequence may refer to: Philosophy, science and social sciences * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * Consequent, in logic, the second half of a hypothetical proposition or consequences * Consequent ...

'' said this added variety on an album that mainly contained female vocals. Jayasuriya felt Kath's vocals were as indecipherable as Glass's. Morton described the vocals as "velvety".

Release and reception

Crystal Castles released their debut studio album, ''

'', on March 18, 2008, in the United States and on April 18 in the United Kingdom. "Vanished" was digitally released as the album's fourth and final single on July 21 through

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s Different and PIAS. In Europe, a promotional

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

was released through Lies, Last Gang, Different, and PIAS. The duo recorded a

for "Vanished" in April 2008 at the CiRCA superclub in downtown Toronto amidst their tour. However, a different video was released in November, recorded at the Union Pool in Brooklyn and directed by

Derrick Beckles Derrick Beckles is a Canadian writer, director, actor, punk rock singer and comedian from Scarborough, Ontario. He is the creator and host of the Adult Swim television show ''Hot Package'', creator of the "TV Carnage" compilations, helped found Vi ...

with the help of

Vernon Chatman Vernon Chatman (born October 31, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, voice actor, stand-up comedian, musician, and a member of PFFR, an art collective based in Brooklyn, New York City. He created the television series ''Wonder ...

. It does not feature the duo. Allison Franks of ''Consequence'' said the video "carries some strong opinions about children's fame and the exploitation of younger generations". She described it as the duo's "strangest video yet" and as perfectly matching the song. Tony Naylor of ''

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 "Vanished" as "just sensational, a weightless, sleekly designed electro-disco anthem". Writing for ''

Hotpress ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who conti ...

'', Paul Nolan said that the track evidenced that Crystal Castles " nowshow to rustle up a killer groove in their own right", it being "brilliantly crafted" and "guaranteed to get any dancefloor moving". ''The Skinny'' Jason Morton praised the song's dark pop vibe, but said "the lack of gusto may not sit well with fans of previous singles". He said it is "one of the most subdued songs" on the "raucous" album. Writing for the same magazine, Sean McNamara felt that "Vanished" was "drowned in the plain screechy nonsense" of other tracks. Mark Horne of ''

The Bolton News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and o ...

'' described "Vanished" as a "lightweight release" and an "album-filler". He felt there were better tracks on the ''Crystal Castles'' album that could be released as singles instead. ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' Dave Hughes described it as an "excellent remix" of Van She's "Sex City", which he compared negatively to. In 2014, Molly Beauchemin of ''Pitchfork'' named "Vanished" one of Crystal Castles' ten best songs, describing it as "a paradoxically dystopian message enveloped in palpating, nu-rave warmth".

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the CD liner notes of ''Crystal Castles'' and "Vanished". *

composer, producer *

writer *Lexxx mixer *Paul Martin photographer

References

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