By now, most readers are familiar with the story of Celer. Celer was the duo of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long, but after Dani’s untimely death, Will continued to soldier on, enriching her musical legacy by releasing a seemingly inexhaustible sequence of discs featuring their entwined work. If a name can predict the outcome of one’s life, then Will must certainly feel fated, but the interpretation of his nomenclature is yet to be determined. Is the artist one of will, or one who will long? Hell Detoured provides a tentative answer. It’s not as dark a recording as one might have imagined, given its title; its gentle tape loops rise in and out like breath. Perhaps the detour around hell – in this instance, a personal, inner hell – leaves Despair dissatisfied: the very nature of art as healing. Many of Celer’s projects have been over-ambitious, attempting to say too much by painting on too grand a canvas. Due to its focused nature, this release says much more than its brief running time might suggest. As a result, it’s one of the finest recordings in the extensive Celer catalog.