Not in Love (Crystal Castles song)

"Not in Love" is a song recorded by the Canadian electronic music duo Crystal Castles featuring the English musician Robert Smith of the band the Cure. It is a re-recording of a Crystal Castles song of the same name, which is itself a cover of the song "Not in Love" (1983) by Platinum Blonde. The original song appeared on their second studio album, Crystal Castles (2010), while the version with Robert Smith was digitally released as a single on October 26, 2010. Although the album version was generally seen as unexciting, the version with Smith was named one of the best songs of 2010 by multiple publications. It appeared in the main charts of Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, and the United Kingdom, while also being certified gold by Music Canada.

Background and release
"Not in Love" is a 1983 song by Platinum Blonde. Crystal Castles re-recorded it for Crystal Castles (2010), which, according to a press release, was recorded at "an Icelandic church, a Canadian cabin, and a Detroit garage". Another press release mentions that Crystal Castles opened for the Cure at London's The O2 Arena in February 2009; this was the first time they met. Ethan Kath recorded his vocals for "Not in Love" as "a scratch demo"; he did not intend for them to be final. Following the album's release, Robert Smith of the Cure asked if he could remix a song on Crystal Castles (2010). Kath suggested that Smith replaced his vocals in "Not In Love" instead. Robert Smith recorded "raw demo vocals" for the song and Crystal Castles canceled the plans to record his vocals in a studio, as the band became attached to the demo vocals.

The Robert Smith version of "Not in Love" was first announced on October 24, 2010, with the song being officially released two days later. It was planned to be released on December 6 in the United Kingdom via Fiction, with the B-sides containing acoustic demos of "Celestica" and "Suffocation". However, the release never happened. A music video for the song was released in January 2011. The song was featured in the video game FIFA 12 (2011).

Composition
The original version of "Not in Love" was characterized as synth-pop by Heather Phares of AllMusic. Pitchfork Mark Richardson said that this version was filled with digital noise and heavy distortion, although Mark Pytlik wrote to the same website that it is "much tamer" when compared to the version with Robert Smith. Cameron Scheetz of The A.V. Club wrote that Kath's "distant, distorted vocals" provided a ghostly feel to the lyrics. An NME writer said that "[t]here's an urgency to the keyboards that crescendos into a wall of sound that wraps around you like a blanket".

Regarding the version with Smith, Scheetz said that it brought his emotive vocals to the forefront and enhanced the song's "throbbing" beat, adding that, in the chorus, "the already propulsive synths become unavoidably sweeping". Beats per Minute staff said that this version's chorus has a heavier mix. Pytlik declared that Kath's "storming synth squalls" provide the perfect contrast to Smith's "precarious and insecure delivery". Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork said that this version has a stronger structure and powerful synths with an anthemic intensity.

Original version
The original Crystal Castles version was generally seen as unexciting. Drowned in Sound James Lawrenson said that it could be considered "filler" and "dropped as a B-side", while Beats per Minute staff described it as "pretty pedestrian". Emily Bick of The Quietus wrote that the song "shifts towards discomfort, disillusion, despair"; conversely, Justin Jacobs of Paste described it as "pretty" and that it "sounds the way twinkling Christmas lights look". Pytlik of Pitchfork said that it "barely seemed to make a dent" when Crystal Castles was released.

Robert Smith version
Pitchfork named it the "Best New Track", with Richardson saying that Smith "elevates" the original version, balancing nostalgia and the immediacy of life. Fact wrote that it is "as satisfying as you could have hoped for". Pitchfork Ryan Dombal that "Smith's voice is loud and clear on the track, which has to be one of the catchiest things Crystal Castles have ever been associated with." Larry Fitzmaurice wrote to the same website that the song "is massive, to the point where it produces chills" and "Once again, Kath and Glass spun aesthetic gold out of something that was decidedly not theirs, but the high-definition angst of 'Not in Love' nonetheless belongs to no one but themselves". He also said that this was one of the best performances of Smith until then.

Scheetz wrote that Smith's emotional vulnerability reveals "the tender longing[s] beneath Crystal Castles' cool, icy facade". Brandon Stosuy of Stereogum said that the cover "sounds like the best thing the Cure put together in ages" while providing a new perspective on the "saturated, blasted goth-noise prettiness" of Crystal Castles. Slant Magazine staff said that "[t]he crunchy production combined with Smith's familiar pangs is heart-wrenching and nothing short of blisteringly gorgeous". Molly Beauchemin of Pitchfork wrote: "The song's explosive, life-affirming chorus segues into Kath's gentle interludes with triumphant precision, making it one of Crystal Castles' finest, most cathartic ballads". A DIY writer described it as the most destined for festival stages and the purest of any Crystal Castles release, adding that it was one of the best covers of the 2010s and "a crazed re-creation of a song that looked to be dead and buried".

Accolades
"Not in Love" was named one of the best songs of 2010 by BBC Radio 6 Music, Beats per Minute, Fact, Pazz & Jop, Pitchfork, PopMatters, and Slant Magazine. In 2014, Pitchfork considered it among the best songs of the decade until then. In 2022, Rolling Stone named it one of the best gothic songs of all time.

Track listing
Digital single
 * 1) "Not in Love" (radio version) – 3:49
 * 2) "Not in Love" (Robert Smith mix) – 3:49

Personnel
Adapted from Spotify; applies to both the radio version and the Robert Smith mix.
 * Alice Glass – performer, writer
 * Ethan Kath – performer, writer, producer
 * Robert Smith – performer, writer
 * Mark Holmes – writer
 * Jacknife Lee – producer
 * Paul Epworth – producer