Biography
Toronto native Jennifer Castle established herself as a steady presence in the city's indie underground toward the end of the 2000s through her work as a singer, songwriter, and frequent collaborator. She first issued introspective folk material under the Castlemusic moniker before adopting her own name, and she also contributed to recordings by outsider artists including Doug Paisley, U.S. Girls, Fucked Up, and Constantines. Over time her work incorporated touches of light psychedelia and chamber pop, most notably on the widely praised 2014 release Pink City. With 2018's Angels of Death she moved toward a richer arrangement featuring country inflections, then adopted a leaner, psychedelic folk direction for 2020's Monarch Season.
Born in Toronto and raised in the nearby communities of Mississauga and Orangeville, Castle lived for several years in the United Kingdom and on Canada's West Coast in British Columbia before settling back in Toronto, where she advanced through the local open-mike and club scenes. Under the Castlemusic name she released Live at the Music Gallery in 2006 and the studio debut You Can't Take Anyone two years later, both on the local Blue Fog Recordings label. Her reflective compositions carried an experimental edge, conveyed through a captivating voice marked by a subtle country twang and a brooding, atmospheric quality. Following work with Sebastien Grainger and Dan Werb on the 2011 National Parks Project, she joined the Calgary-based independent label Flemish Eye in 2012. Her third album, issued under her given name yet still titled Castlemusic, displayed an ethereal character. The expansive and critically acclaimed Pink City appeared in 2014, incorporating string arrangements by Owen Pallett, and received an international release on the No Quarter imprint before earning a spot on the 2015 Polaris Prize shortlist. Three years afterward she delivered the more country- and gospel-oriented Angels of Death on the American label Paradise of Bachelors. On 2020's Monarch Season she stepped back from the fuller, roots-oriented approach of the previous album; recorded largely at home, the set relied on minimal arrangements, frequently limited to Castle's own guitar or piano, while trippy effects imparted a psychedelic haze.
Born in Toronto and raised in the nearby communities of Mississauga and Orangeville, Castle lived for several years in the United Kingdom and on Canada's West Coast in British Columbia before settling back in Toronto, where she advanced through the local open-mike and club scenes. Under the Castlemusic name she released Live at the Music Gallery in 2006 and the studio debut You Can't Take Anyone two years later, both on the local Blue Fog Recordings label. Her reflective compositions carried an experimental edge, conveyed through a captivating voice marked by a subtle country twang and a brooding, atmospheric quality. Following work with Sebastien Grainger and Dan Werb on the 2011 National Parks Project, she joined the Calgary-based independent label Flemish Eye in 2012. Her third album, issued under her given name yet still titled Castlemusic, displayed an ethereal character. The expansive and critically acclaimed Pink City appeared in 2014, incorporating string arrangements by Owen Pallett, and received an international release on the No Quarter imprint before earning a spot on the 2015 Polaris Prize shortlist. Three years afterward she delivered the more country- and gospel-oriented Angels of Death on the American label Paradise of Bachelors. On 2020's Monarch Season she stepped back from the fuller, roots-oriented approach of the previous album; recorded largely at home, the set relied on minimal arrangements, frequently limited to Castle's own guitar or piano, while trippy effects imparted a psychedelic haze.
Albums
Singles
