Toronto Indie Pop Artist Castle Frank Releases 'Half Awake' Single

Toronto indie-pop songwriter Castle Frank, aka Max Bergé, released his latest single, "Half Awake" today, to announce his debut album, In Your Blood, for a June 23 release.

Discussing the track, Max noted that "Half Awake" is about, "being aware of the flaws in your character, seeing your bad habits and the harm that they cause yourself and others. Using any escape necessary to get into a numbed out blissful state where you avoid your problems but realizing in the end you can't keep living like this and you have to better yourself in order to find peace."

Collaborating with producers Nixon Boyd (Hollerado, Dizzy) and Matt Lederman (!!!, The Rural Alberta Advantage), In Your Blood is the merging of Max's influences: from producers like Noah Goldstein, Emile Haynie and JPEGMAFIA, to the foundations of classic songwriting in the vein of artists like David Bowie and The National.

At the age of 19, Max left a small suburb on the West Coast with nothing but a duffel bag and landed himself in Toronto. He

ended up dead broke, living in the storage room of the guitar shop he worked at in the city's west end. During his first winter after arriving, he holed up in the basement of the shop and began writing about his experiences in the city. With a laptop, mic, a Moog Sub 37 and Tempest Drum Machine, Max began writing and working on this collection of tracks.

The album's first single, "Shallows," arrived last summer, quickly grabbing the attention of Exclaim! Magazine, who featured follow up single, "Just Kids," in their 'New Faves' column, stating "Euphoric single 'Just Kids' brings giant-sized synth hooks to sweet, sensitive electropop," and inviting Castle Frank to perform at one of their 'Class of 2022' events in Toronto.

For Max, In Your Blood is a reflection on how, "sometimes places, people or experiences can leave a mark that you carry until it becomes a part of you. Even if you'd prefer to forget, you learn to accept it as everything you've been through has made you who you are."