Celestial
Retrospect
Drum

Retrospect, the seventh album from Hong Kong collaborative group Celestial, is a career-spanning collection of Asian dub, overseen by long-term Hong Kong resident Peter Millward, the British musician who composed, performed on and recorded all 11 tracks. A mix of original compositions and reimaginings from the collective’s 20-year history, the spaced-out soundclash envelops the contrasting worlds of Asian culture and Jamaican dub wizardry. Nepalese trio Sur Sudha add a new vocal to the chilled-out Kanchhi Version while Dead Ahead Dubhas been given a completely new arrangement and vocals by former Audiotraffic lead man Adrian Da Silva. With its film-noir vibe, Retrospect works as a wonderful soundtrack for the dark clouds sailing over our city. Moody strings, minimalist keys and reverberant melodicas echo a confusing uncertainty over a deep dub bass, but with snippets of recordings collected throughout Hong Kong and beyond over the previous 25 years, a musical silver lining is always threatening to break through the bleakness.