Celebrating a Decade of Dream Pop: CASTLEBEAT Announces 7th Studio Album with Shimmering New Single

Indie dream-pop favourite CASTLEBEAT has announced his seventh studio album CASTLEBEAT II, due May 2026 via Spirit Goth Records — alongside a shimmering new single, This Takes Time, landing February 13.

Marking a decade since his 2016 debut, CASTLEBEAT II acts as both a homecoming and a forward step for songwriter Josh Hwang, blending archived ideas from the project’s early days with newly written material — all filtered through his signature haze of jangly guitars, sun-soaked melodies and bittersweet nostalgia. The new single captures that familiar CASTLEBEAT alchemy: buoyant, feel-good indie pop on the surface, threaded with quiet melancholy underneath.

“This Takes Time lives in that hazy and jangly pocket,” says Hwang. “A little bittersweet — like the feeling that some things can’t be rushed.”

Written, recorded and produced entirely by Hwang in true DIY fashion, the album keeps the raw charm that’s defined CASTLEBEAT from the start, while introducing a new level of polish thanks to first-time mixing and mastering collaborator Brian Fisher. The record deliberately mirrors the look and flow of the original debut — from its sequencing arc to the classic CASTLEBEAT font — serving as a reflective pause before the next chapter.

Raised in Southern California in a Korean-Spanish household surrounded by diverse musical influences, Hwang’s sound has always been built for motion — driving music with dreamy edges, lo-fi textures and hooks that linger. That formula has earned CASTLEBEAT hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners and comparisons to acts like Beach Fossils and Daywave, while maintaining the imperfect, home-made feel that fans connect with most.

A decade on, CASTLEBEAT II stands as both a thank-you to longtime listeners and a quiet celebration of how far the project has come — proof that sometimes the slow burn hits hardest.

“This Takes Time” arrives February 13, with CASTLEBEAT II following in May 2026.