Push is officially back in the album format. The legendary trance producer, real name Mike Dierickx, has just released his eighth studio album ‘Known Universe’, out now via Black Hole Recordings. The “known universe” of the title is the hardware-driven studio world that shaped the producer’s earliest work, and the entire album was painstakingly built using the same generation of gear that powered his first record ‘From Beyond’.
Across more than 25 years in the trance scene, the legendary producer has consistently refused to chase trends. That long-game integrity is exactly what powers the new album. As proof of his enduring relevance, both ‘Strange World’ and ‘Universal Nation’ surged back into Beatport’s All Genres Top 100 last year, fully 25 years after their original release, with Tiësto also debuting his re-edit of ‘Universal Nation’ during his Dreamstate Southern California set.
Inside the Push ‘Known Universe’ studio concept
The legendary trance producer opened up about the deeply personal concept behind the album.
“The idea behind ‘Known Universe’ was to revisit the world that shaped me as a producer. Not just the sounds, but the tools, the creative environment and the trials that defined electronic music making when I first started releasing records. For this album, I challenged myself to work exclusively with the same generation of hardware that helped create tracks like those on my first album ‘From Beyond’. Machines that were ground-breaking at the time, but also far from perfect. Back in the day, technology had a personality of its own; equipment could be unstable, boxes could overheat, projects could be lost, and every studio session came with an element of unpredictability. Returning to that ‘known universe’ reminded me how much patience, problem-solving and instinct went into making music before everything became immediate and infinitely editable. In a strange way, those imperfections became the album’s greatest strength, because they brought back a sense of authenticity that’s difficult to recreate in a modern workflow.”
Push
The trance veteran’s signature sound is built around elegant harmonic frameworks, expansive chord progressions, intricately layered leads, subterranean basslines and a flawlessly tuned low-end pulse. Across the new album, those elements are patiently shaped by evolving filter work and resonant flourishes, then released at pinpoint moments of maximum club-striking impact. The result is described as “the truest reflection of Push to date” — an authentic distillation of everything that originally defined the Push sound.
Beyond the artistic statement, the hardware-only approach is also the most ambitious creative constraint of his career. By working entirely with unstable analogue gear that could overheat or crash mid-session, the trance veteran traded the convenience of modern infinitely-editable workflows for raw instinct and patience. That choice, as he puts it, became the album’s greatest strength.
After a year built around the album’s vanguard singles, ‘Known Universe’ is out now via Black Hole Recordings. The album is available on all streaming platforms, as well as via digital download, CD and a strictly limited-edition triple vinyl pressing featuring expanded artwork and full album sequencing across three heavyweight discs. Listen to ‘Known Universe’ here.
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