Castlebeat is Josh Hwang’s project, and ‘Revival’ is their brand new album, released in 2025.
In my ears, it’s a blend of gloomy goth, electro, post-punk, and everything in between, with a bedroom pop sound that is much more modern than the genres I just mentioned. I am thinking of bands such as The Cure and Joy Division, as well as early Depeche Mode and New Order, since there is a significant electronic vibe to this project. This is a 16 track album (basically a double album if you ask me, as growing up most of the albums I would get consisted of 8 tracks more or less) and songs like ‘Like a dream’ are much more on the big synth and drum machine side of things whereas songs like ‘Call me’ and ‘Lies’ are definitely what you would expect from a band like The Smiths but without the synths.
‘1990’ was a nice change, as most of the songs on the album have an uptempo, punky vibe, and this one sounds more like a relaxed synth-pop ballad. There are also moments when the songs sound a bit rockier (indie rock, that is!), and it all comes down to the use of guitars, really. The style created by the bands from the 80s and 90s I mentioned earlier was so characteristic that every time I hear that kind of arpeggiated riff with a clean sound and a reverb on a guitar, I instantly know what to expect from the beat and the bass. It’s funny, because basically it sounded as if they were avoiding strumming at all costs, hence every time there is strumming involved, the sound makes you think of very different references and perhaps the best example of a band that “flirted” with those musical elements (when they were not full amped and loud) was The Smashing Pumpkins. A song like ‘With You’ takes us away from any goth vibes and even touches on Britpop in many ways, including the use of vocals. That was a fascinating blend.
‘Revival’ could be ‘Heroes’ by Bowie. Personally, I love all the dreamy, synth-vibey moments of the album much more than the ‘goth’ ones, but this is, of course, just a matter of personal preference.
The songs are short and sweet, and the album’s total duration is approximately 46 minutes. Perhaps if the album contained fewer tracks, then the variation and diversity between the songs would shine even more!
Just out of curiosity, I checked out their previous album ‘Castlebeat’, and I can see the progress and further exploration of the synth sounds and atmospheres; the sound is also bigger and sounds cleaner. Looking forward to more from this artist!
Written by Spiros Maus
