Iconic bassist and producer Jah Wobble has teamed up with his sons’ ethno-psychedelic duo Tian Qiyi on the fascinating new album ‘Mystic Liverpool: The Beatles’ Psychedelic Psongbook’, a deeply personal reimagining of The Beatles’ psychedelic period. Framing these songs within a soundscape of Chinese, Mongolian and dub traditions, this album is out on August 14th via Cherry Red Records.
John Wardle, a.k.a. Jah Wobble is a founding member of Public Image Ltd (PiL) and formed Invaders of the Heart in 1982. In his nearly 50-year career, he has had chart success, a Mercury Music Prize nomination and a rich discography via his label 30 Hertz. He has collaborated with Can’s Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, U2’s The Edge and producer François Kevorkian, in addition to Sinéad O’Connor, Massive Attack, Ginger Baker, Björk, Brian Eno, Pharoah Sanders and, most recently, Horace Andy on his ‘Timeless Roots’ album, Ken Boothe on his ‘Old Fashioned Ways’ album, and Jon Klein on the ‘Automated Paradise’ album.
Tian Qiyi is a duo made up of John T Wardle and Charlie Wardle, taking its name from their Chinese middle names, Tian Qi and Tian Yi. Based in Liverpool, the duo bridges British, Chinese, Mongolian and dub traditions, their fascinating ethno-psychedelic music bridging cultures to forge a sound that also weaves in post-punk and experimental production, their sound imbued with magnetic tension between ancient tradition and dub futurism, East and West, land and spirit.
The album draws largely on Jah Wobble’s signature dub bass, John T’s drums, Chinese percussion and yangqin, and Charlie’s erhu and vocals. Their clever rendition of “Strawberry Fields Forever” also sees Charlie playing morin khuur with the boys’ mother Zi Lan Liao — a Royal Academy of Music–trained harpist and the most recognized gu-zheng performer worldwide — joining on gu-zheng.
Jointly produced by Jah Wobble, John T and Charlie, this album was recorded and mixed by John T at Pagoda Studios in Liverpool. But the Liverpool connection runs even deeper through their family. Zi Lan’s father, Mr K.H. Li (Liao Gui Xiong), arrived from Guangzhou in 1981 as Chinese Cultural Officer at the Pagoda and went on to establish the Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra — the ensemble Zi Lan (now also director of Pagoda Arts Centre) runs and that both her sons grew up playing in from the age of three. The record is dedicated to him; a lifelong Beatles fan, he owned everything they ever released on vinyl.
“The track that flipped it for me as a kid was ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’” says Jah Wobble. “I didn’t have the language for what was going on in that song — I just knew it was more than music. The words you’d reach for are the ones people use about psychedelia: ego dissolution, a sense of unity, cosmic connection. I consider dub music to fit into the psychedelia genre, and John T grew up listening to dub, so Mystic Liverpool was always going to have that sensibility.”
The album moves through The Beatles’ psychedelic-era songbook with Chinese instrumentation and dub-inflected mixing, treating the material as the genuinely mystical music it always was rather than as nostalgic covers. As listeners will be pleased to discover, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Magical Mystery Tour” are particular touchstones.
On August 14th, the ‘Mystic Liverpool’ album will be released as a CD Digipack and digitally via Cherry Red Records. It is now available for pre-order. Jah Wobble is touring the UK throughout 2026 with The Invaders Of The Heart – tickets are available at https://jahwobble.com/#live
TRACK LIST
01 . Tomorrow Never Knows
02 . Strawberry Fields Forever
03 . Within You Without You
04 . I Am The Walrus
05 . Norwegian Wood
06 . Blue Jay Way
07 . The Inner Light
08 . Love You To
09 . Flying
10 . Rain
Album pre-order www.cherryred.co.uk/jah-wobble-tian-qiyi-mystic-liverpool-the-beatles-psychedelic-psongbook-cd-digipak-edition
