Castles In The Sky’, the iconic classic from Belgian band Ian van Dahl, enjoyed quite the run in dance music land when it was released shortly after the turn of the millenium. Immediately catching the ears and eyes of the global dance music crowd, the record became a major hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at #3 in the UK Singles Chart and #1 in the Scottish Singles Chart. That was two decades ago, meaning it’s about time that the classic comes surging back to life. And none other than i_o is making that happen, issuing his rework to celebrate the original record’s twenty-year anniversary.
Following on i_o’s hyper-melodic ‘In My Head’, this next release of his on Armada Music pushes boundaries whilst paying homage to a bona fide classic that helped shape dance music culture. Juggling heavy, tremor-inducing Techno beats with swirling melodies and heavenly vocals that make listeners reminisce about the original track, ‘Castles In The Sky’ makes for a sonic experience that transcends genres from start to finish.
Seeing as his first-ever release only dates back to 2017, it’s safe to say that i_o has risen to prominence particularly quickly in the past few years. Before signing exclusively with Armada Music, he released on Deadmau5’s Mau5trap and Andrew Rayel’s inHarmony on a regular basis and sent sparks flying on remix duty for top-flight artists such as Above & Beyond (‘Alchemy’), Armin van Buuren and Tempo Giusto (‘Mr. Navigator’) and Deadmau5 (‘Imaginary Friends’). On the live front, i_o immediately staked his claim as a headline act: he completely filled out the 30,000-person floor of EDC Las Vegas’s Circuit Grounds in its opening minutes, hosted his own underground warehouse event called ACID RAVE in downtown Los Angeles, and sold out his ‘444’ album tour, which is based on his three-part album series (‘ACID 444’, ‘NRG 444’ and ‘AM 444 (feat. Lights)’).
