Plague

This apocalyptic liturgy was the first track to be released from Canadian duo Crystal Castle's third album, which was named simply III. It was the first record by the pair to be produced entirely by the band's Ethan Kath. While recording in Warsaw, Poland, Kath adopted a "strictly no computers" rule in the studio, scrapping their old keyboards and synths and instead recording everything directly to a '50s tape machine. "We wanted the new album to sound like a completely different and new experience," he said, "We'd limit ourselves to one take on each song because we believe the first take is the rawest expression of an idea."

Speaking to NME about III, vocalist Alice Glass said: "There's lots of themes, but feeling, like, oppressed… A lot of things not personally happening to us, since the past record, but people we know, kind of profoundly influenced everything. Like, I didn't think I could lose faith in humanity any more than I already had, but after witnessing some things, it just… the world is a dystopia. I'm one step away from being a vigilante. I've thought about it."

The album cover features an award-winning picture by Spanish photojournalist Samuel Arand. The picture depicts a veiled woman named Fatima al-Qaws cradling her son Zayed who is suffering from the effects of tear gas after participating in a demonstration in Sanaa, Yemen. The image won World Press Photo Of The Year in 2011.