SG87: CASTLEBEAT - CASTLEBEAT II [LP]
CASTLEBEAT is the lo-fi indie rock project of 32-year-old half-Korean half-Spanish artist Josh Hwang. Released ten years after his self-titled debut in 2016 and gorgeously highlighting the project’s closeness with nostalgia, Hwang’s new album CASTLEBEAT II is about pausing to reflect on where you’ve been before stepping forward again onto the path of all you still have yet to be. Hwang’s meticulous compositions have consistently revealed the modest intimacies of DIY production, weaving together jangle pop, shoegaze, and synth rock with careful and thoughtful hands. Furthermore, Hwang’s hyper-specific brand of nostalgia has always been far more intentional than a quick mimicking of something warm and fuzzy; rather, CASTLEBEAT reproduces the often visceral and inexplicable sensations that arise along with the sudden pangs of past memories.
Several of the songs on CASTLEBEAT II gesture to the ideas and sound textures that initially appeared on the debut, reworking and recontextualizing those tracks rather than recreating them from scratch. Mirroring the debut’s original sequencing arc, the most introspective moments on CASTLEBEAT II act as sonic brackets, framing the beginning and end with a soft, yet dynamic aura of discernment. “I’m moving slow/ Faster you know/ And I’m on my way home,” Hwang sings in the stunning opener “Awake,” acting almost like a thesis statement for the album as a whole. Similarly, in the transcendent closer “Promise,” Hwang’s hazy, echoed vocals, placed next to futuristic synth, gestures towards a new beginning on the heels of truly knowing and appreciating one’s past. What lives in between start and end is a conscious mix of bright jangle pop (“Garden,” “Stay With Me”) as well as textured, cinematic ballads (“This Takes Time,” “Plastic Bag,” “My Love”) that express Hwang’s skills in composition. Ultimately, via familiar, yet dynamic melodies and blissfully pensive narratives, CASTLEBEAT II is a love letter - a beacon of gratitude for those that have remained curious of the project’s essence and potential throughout the past decade.
SG87: CASTLEBEAT - CASTLEBEAT II [LP]