Celeste Essentials

Celeste Waite may have emerged from the UK’s retro-soul boom, but her sound reaches far beyond facile comparisons to Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield. Born in the United States and raised in England, where she spent her youth exploring the arts, including church singing, Celeste draws from a breadth of styles: vintage jazz, orchestral pop, even downtempo. Her debut EP, 2017’s The Milk & the Honey, wraps her smoky voice in moody electronic textures; 2020’s “Hear My Voice,” featured in the movie The Trial of the Chicago 7, recasts her as a gospel-inspired powerhouse delivering enduring messages of equality and liberation.