Water has long been hailed as a wizard of change, a giver of life, and an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artists. In his debut album Hydro, Toby Castle-Smith, the creative force behind RIP SILO, explores this potent metaphor through the lens of the human soul’s tumultuous nature. Rather than relying on the clichéd symbols of purification and baptism, Castle-Smith launches the album with an arresting imagery of collapsing ice columns, setting a tone of relentless natural power that courses throughout the 42-minute experience of synthpop reverence.
The journey of Hydro began in 2020 when Castle-Smith devised the concept, ultimately collaborating with producer Jeroen van den Dungen in 2023 to elevate his bold pop vision. The album weaves together an eclectic array of influences, from vaporous ambient sounds to contemporary trap, synthwave, and the rain-soaked moods of ‘80s pop and ‘90s R&B. This diverse sound emerges from the duo’s intention to embody the various forms of water—vapor, fluid, ice—celebrating its transformative nature and undeniable force, which resonates deeply considering that water accounts for around 60% of the human body.
RIP SILO is a deeply personal endeavour for Castle-Smith, a singer-songwriter hailing from the South of England who has spent several years in Amsterdam. Conceived in solitude, the project thrived in an underground space akin to a tank, embodying the essence of its namesake—a silo. Hydro marks the culmination of this introspective journey, where European synthpop’s robust lineage converges with modern influences to craft a malleable sonic landscape. In this way, RIP SILO finds harmony between the raw power of the natural world and the inner turbulence that characterizes the human experience.
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