Get ready, Vancouver! Ruby Singh, the city’s boundary-breaking composer and performer, is launching his latest album, Celestial Libations, and it’s not your typical listen. Premiering at the cutting-edge LOBE Studios on November 21 and 22, this album takes listeners on a cosmic ride through blues, gospel, and experimental soundscapes—crafted to open your ears and soul to new dimensions.
If you think music has to fit neatly into one category, Singh is here to prove otherwise. His work defies easy labels; it’s part spiritual journey, part experimental adventure. His vocal group, Ruby Singh’s Vox Infold, won Spiritual Artist of the Year at the 2025 Western Canadian Music Awards for their album Vox.Infold II—a nod to his powerful, boundary-pushing style. Singh says the award surprised him a bit, but it made perfect sense since his work explores bigger questions about existence and spirit beyond what meets the eye and ear.
Singh’s career spans multiple styles and projects. In 2024, he scooped the Electronic/Dance Artist of the Year WCMA with Polyphonic Garden Suite II, an innovative blend of electronic sounds made from the hidden “music” of plants, animals, fungi, and environmental field recordings. Now, Celestial Libations brings a new energy with his group the Future Ancestors, featuring a stellar lineup including award-winning novelist and performance poet Arthur Flowers, Juno winner Khari Wendell McClelland, and revered musicians on oud, guitar, and percussion.
The album feels like a modern gospel, with storytelling deeply rooted in history and culture. Flowers’ poetic narratives, like in “Brer Rabbit and Sister Beetle,” reconnect listeners to ancestral African storytelling traditions, far removed from the watered-down versions familiar to many. The album journeys through mystical stories and hard truths, such as the biting social commentary in “When the Hammer Falls,” reflecting on today’s struggles with inequality and oppression.
Singh’s work blends art and activism, reminding us of the power of music and poetry to both entertain and provoke thought. The album launch at LOBE Studios offers an immersive experience fitting for such a rich sonic tapestry, with limited tickets for true music adventurers. Plus, Singh pairs Celestial Libations with a poetry book, Bladed Edge, diving into personal ancestry and migration stories—showing his creative versatility.
Looking to 2026, Ruby Singh and the Future Ancestors will tour Celestial Libations, spreading their powerful message across the country. For local fans and music explorers alike, Singh’s work is a masterclass in how music can transcend boundaries and bring people together in unexpected ways.
Now, if you want to hear what the future of music sounds like—with heart, history, and a whole lot of soul—Ruby Singh’s Celestial Libations is an essential listen this season.