Combining the distortion-drenched elegance of Chapterhouse with the fuzzy charm of The Legends, Celestial’s Dream On is a future shoegazing classic. Led by brain trust Andreas Hagman, this Swedish collective knows how to swoon and swerve its way through a pop song. “Brighton Girls” suggests a sun-kissed version of Ride, “Horoscope” jangles merrily over Hagman’s doleful vocals and “The Boy Who Never Says Goodbye” comes with a guitar that wistfully chimes as singer Malin Dahlberg joins Hagman for more downbeat beauty. Dream On may be a contemplative and self-probing album, but it’s not depressing at all. Filtering longing through blurry beauty (“Nothing Happens; Twice” and “Springtide Day”) and gently played acoustica (“Bluebell Meadow”) Hagman and his cohorts not only know their way around a pop song, they know how to roll it out in majestic bursts of crumbling loveliness. Elsewhere, Dahlberg’s “Pale Blue Eyes” is an exercise in spare and honest songwriting, while the closer “The Sunshine Of Your Smile”) suggests The Stone Roses, yet offers a new level of devastating beauty.
~ Alex Green
