Brooklyn, New York, based Celestial Trax has honed a beautiful and cryptic sound, where melodies wrap like blown glass around a skeleton of diamond-hard drums and sub-bass. His recent Paroxysm EP follows on from a series of self-released EPs on Bandcamp, and the music it contains nods towards the dancefloor while simultaneously inviting a retreat into the self-contained space of headphones. His sound can recalls a haunted spectral electronic beauty, charged with minimalist grime and the substantial sound system rattling bass. Both intricate and physically powerful, they reward close attention – tuned to reverberate powerfully on the dancefloor through a large sound system, but full of incidental details that reveal themselves through deep and focused listening.

Inspired by raw and gritty aesthetics in club music – whether grime and early jungle, or Chicago street sounds like juke, footwork and drill – Celestial Trax’s music is, he says, “all about capturing and harnessing an energy.” Celestial Trax feels like a self-contained universe in its own right, with each track evoking a conflicted range of emotions: isolation and harshness interlaced with moments of beauty and elation.

2014 saw Celestial Trax moving from London, UK, to the heart of the electronic scene in New York City, his first release on the seminal UK label slash radio station Rinse FM, as well as his first live shows in the US. The rest of the year remains busy with two forthcoming EPs, a number of collaborations with vocalists & producers from both sides of the Atlantic, and a honing of his touring live performance.