Justin Robertson channels post-punk energy and dub mysticism into a haunting new chapter of the ‘Five Green Moons’ series.
Few artists in British electronic music can claim a creative arc as wild, restless and vividly alive as Justin Robertson’s. From Manchester’s acid house underground in the late 80s to remixing the likes of Björk, Erasure, and New Order, Robertson has always treated music as an open invitation to experiment. His new album Five Green Moons 2 arrives as the second part of an ongoing series that distills decades of influence into something that feels both ancient and futuristic.
This instalment dives deep into the echo chamber of dub, blending its hypnotic pulse with the angular edge of post-punk and the spectral shimmer of lysergic folk. Robertson calls it “drinking from the dub well,” and that description fits perfectly. The record feels soaked in space and atmosphere, but it is never static. Each track seems to evolve in slow motion, haunted by tape delay, reverb and strange voices caught between the worlds of dream and ritual.
Where Five Green Moons 1 was praised as an “English pastoral dub excursion,” this follow-up moves into darker, more unsettled territory. It captures a Britain that feels uneasy and reflective, seeking quiet moments amid the chaos. You can hear the lineage of P.I.L. and the shadow of Coil and Dead Can Dance, but Robertson reshapes these influences into his own strange hybrid. The textures are rich and alive, and there is a constant tension between order and decay.
The collaboration with Brix Smith adds another layer of electricity. Her vocals and lyrical presence fit naturally within Robertson’s vision, bringing both urgency and vulnerability. There is a mystical current running through the album that links back to his fascination with occult literature and dystopian fiction. It feels like a soundtrack to an unseen film, one set somewhere between the ruins of industrial Britain and the outer edges of imagination.
What makes Five Green Moons 2 stand out is the way it bridges worlds. It nods to dub pioneers like Lee Perry and Adrian Sherwood while echoing the experimental spirit of post-acid house peers such as David Holmes and Andrew Weatherall. Yet it never leans on nostalgia. Robertson’s production feels immediate, detailed and quietly fearless. The low-end is heavy and physical, but the upper layers shimmer like broken light.
It is tempting to see this album as an extension of his visual art and writing. Robertson treats sound like paint, layering tones, voices and rhythms with the same curiosity that drives his canvases and novels. His quote about art being an “act of possession” rings true here. You can feel him channeling everything he has absorbed over the years into something that is uniquely his.
Five Green Moons 2 is not a club record in the traditional sense, but you can imagine certain moments lifting a late-night crowd into a slow, communal trance. It is music for explorers, for those who still believe electronic music can be visionary rather than functional. Justin Robertson has never stopped being that kind of artist.
This is music that belongs to no single scene or decade. It speaks in echoes, hums with dubwise basslines, and whispers of forgotten futures. Five Green Moons 2 is an album of depth and strange beauty, the work of a true original who continues to find new ways to move both body and mind.
‘Five Green Moons 2’ will be available from 28/11/25, pre order via Juno here.
