Church of Trance

Ironically perhaps,  ‘Finding Me’ owes its existence to a period of profound creative doubt on Ciaran McAuley’s behalf. After years of forward momentum, the Irish artist found himself questioning not only his own direction, but his relationship with music itself. At that crossroads, rather than forcing (what now only had the appearance of) progress, he chose to pause and fully acknowledge the rift. Then he turned into its headwind and harnessed that turbulence as the start-point for his recalibration. And that became the core of  ‘Finding Me’ . That type of reset often requires a little help from your friends and Ciaran found a wealth of that through a truly standout cast of collaborators. Amongst that cadre are studio mainstays like  Paul van Dyk ,  Roger Shah ,  Ferry Tayle , and  Sean Tyas , and singer-songwriters like  Audrey Gallagher, Christian Burns ,  Sue McLaren ,  Zara Taylor, Sarah Howells ,  Clara Yates, Deirdre Mc...

Are we looking at the final artist album from John Askew ?? It is after all his first since his ‘Z List Uber Star’, which is currently closing in on its 20th anniversary. Add to that the duality of ‘A Room Full Of Pros & Cons’s title; the faintly Last Supper-ish lean of its cover, not to mention some flagrant nose-thumbing of LP conventions, and, well, the question could at least be asked. As with so much in life though there’s more to that than meets the eye. Between John’s production schedule (breakneck), day to day roles in artist management, international touring (both as a DJ and live act), label management, event organising and his ‘open-all-hours’ industry rep, the man’s had his hands way full. Lesser wonder then that it’s taken him five years to close all the ‘P’s and curve all the ‘C’s on ‘A Room Full Of Pros & Cons’ .  The title’s John’s summation of half a lifetime’s worth of observations and experiences, garnered at the business end of the electronic music ind...

John and Shelby’s paths first crossed when the former relocated Ms. Merry’s ‘When Darkness Comes’ from its folk/country origins to the heart-and-centre of 2022’s international clubfloors. Since John and the Ohio-born/Nashville-based singer have stayed in contact, always contemplating a follow up to its success. The perfect opportunity presented itself with the ten-year anniversary of Shelby’s ‘Young Guns’ album, and a plan was hatched to thoroughly reimagine one of John’s favourites from its number. Shelby’s soulfully wistful essence meets John’s floor-galvanising studio work, as ‘Steady & Stronger’ s transatlantic collaboration  hits today .   It was the song’s introspective braveries that first singled it out to John . ‘Steady & Stronger’ taps into the coming-of-age reflections that follow adulthood’s first meaningful happenings … the insight they bring, but also the toll they can take. Musically, John’s highlights each verse/chorus progression with its...