Church of Trance

Having stopped to smell the roses for a few cycles, Roger Shah’s hallmark music compilation series returns to streams, stores and shelves in 2026. Onboard, naturally, is its usual, impeccable prog/trance/house blend of melodic-tropics, harmonic sonics, castaway chords, beachfront character and seaside atmosphere. Ready to do it to the summer, before the summer does it to us, here comes ‘Magic Island – Music For Balearic People 13’ !! As is his way, Roger Shah’s again pursued a one-hundred-percent exclusive material mandate for his latest ‘M.I. ’ excursion. To that end, he’s reunited his singing, songwriting and composing family of ‘Balearic People’ for lucky no.13. Those returning from the last edition alone include Pierre Pienaar, Rafael Osmo, Yelow, Ditoma, Clarks, Aytaro, Spy and, naturally enough, Roger’s Sunlounger alias - all contributing to its compound hybrid makeup. Adding to that family are actual blood-tied Shahs . Three years further on, Roger’s son Noah Shah has ...

AS IT NAVIGATES ITS SECOND ALBUM DECADE, SOLARSTONE BRINGS MAJOR CHANGES TO HIS MIXCOMP MARQUE. (MUSICAL PURITY HOWEVER REMAINS STRICTLY INTACT !!).   Having solo-helmed the milestone tenth ‘Pure Trance’ outing, Solarstone reflected at the time that it was: “a transitional moment’ for the series. A natural temporal point, where one ‘chapter’ would close and another open. ” And that new “ chapter ” is where we find ourselves today.  At their core, ‘Pure Trance’ albums has always had an ethos – something seeded in them from the very start. However, that culture Rich felt was: “achievable, but not yet fully achieved”. Specifically, it’s that of creating the albums the ‘Global Underground’ way or by following the ‘Northern Exposure’ trail. A commitment to compiling and mixing so detailed, so thought through and so experience-led, that it enshrines the 20/20 club experience as close to 1:1 as is humanly possible.  So, to finally make that flesh, he returned the...

Fusing two generations of artistry along a single conceptual thread,  Fisherman  ( Isaac Vissers ) lands his debut album with a project as deeply rooted in family as it is in music. ‘Metamorphosis’  takes inspiration from a series of twelve graphic works created in the early 90s by Isaac’s father, painter Jack Vissers, with the meaning of each canvas now reinterpreted as a corresponding piece of music. Across its twelve tracks, the album charts the human journey – one that moves from states of innocence and possibility, through the rebellious and aspirational stages, before finally reaching understanding, transcendence, and continuity. Whichever way you cut it, there’s never been an album quite like ‘Metamorphosis’ . Across its twelve tracks, the album charts the human journey – one that moves from states of innocence and possibility, through the rebellious and aspirational stages, before finally reaching understanding, transcendence, and continuity. Talking about ‘...

For an artist long notable for the strong melodic undercurrents that lie at the core of his productions, Somna’s ‘Pathways’ album represents something more ambitious than a simple progression. It is the sound of an artist very definitively redrawing his own creative map. Across a triplet of EPs, released over the last twelve months, he’s stepped far beyond the harmonic sonics that brought him to prominence. In doing so, he began to explore the outer (and inner!) reaches of melodic bass and the fierier kinetics of hard dance, as well as the more progressive house and trance ethers. These stylistic outreaches aren’t detours, in so much as they’re branching-out ‘pathways’, albeit ones which will ultimately converge back to form a new, broader-spectrum artistic identity. No longer walking the line, on May 22 , with ‘Pathways’ , Somna delivers his most expansive LP statement yet. The first of those three creative avenues manifests with Somna’s contemporary spin on the melodic bass aesth...

FEATURING TIMELESS WHITE ISLAND CLASSICS FROM CHICANE, SOLARSTONE, TIËSTO, THREE DRIVES, ENERGY 52, FERRY CORSTEN, ARMIN, RANK 1, SVENSON, GABRIEL & DRESDEN + MANY MORE Having docked at Trance ports near and far, in May 2026, ‘Hypnotised’ - the genre’s quintessential musical companion, embarks on its sister series. The brainchild of Arjan Rietveld , (also author of  Hypnotised - A Journey Through Trance Music , the definitive written history on the subject), its focus shifts from a by-country standpoint to that of a sub-genre to sub-genre exploration. ‘Hypnotised – Balearic Trance’ joins the dots between the genre’s defining moments, linking together undisputed anthems like Three Drives’ immortal ‘Greece 2000’ , York’s ‘Reachers of Civilization’ , and Solarstone’s ‘The Calling’ . It counterweights them with deeper cut crate-diggers like the Transformer Too-riffing ‘La Paloma’ from Dove Beat , Goldenscan’s chiming ‘Sunrise’ , and the holiday yearn of ‘One More Day’ f...

We had the opportunity to connect with Darren Porter during Luminosity in the Netherlands for this exclusive interview, where he reflects on the childhood spark that led him to Trance, the cinematic techniques that shape his signature sound, and the spontaneous creative flow behind his collaboration on “Potion.” He opens up about the personal battles that inspired his Reason to Rise label and explains its unique A&R process that's focused on quality. Along the way, Darren shares grounded advice for aspiring artists and shares the joy balance of music, relationships, and dog Teddy brings to his life. // WATCH // LISTEN Church of Trance · Exclusive interview with Darren Porter // READ TRANCE JESUS: Chris Blackburn reporting from the Netherlands for the fourteenth edition of Luminosity Beach Festival. I’m joined here for this special interview with a DJ who is no stranger to Luminosity and has released dozens of tracks and instrumentals and is a driving success behind a ...