For some artists, a song title is a mere formality. For M.I.K.E., it's the beginning of a story, and indicative of an event or life experience that compels you to listen and find out more. M.I.K.E.'s own story started aged 10, after a Depeche Mode synth electro performance wowed him into wanting to produce music; he went on to release his first track at 18 and never looked back.  Following 6 album releases under various guises (including Push and Plastic Boy), dance and chart success all over the world, and remixes for everybody from Sinead 'O Connor to Moby, M.I.K.E. released his debut artist album The Perfect Blend, two years ago.

The follow-up, Moving On In Life, includes tracks such as Change R Good - an upfront indication of the move away from out and out trance that M.I.K.E has been making for 14 years. "I like to give a clue with my titles," says M.I.K.E., "people expect more if you give a title that means something." The change in direction isn't a drastic one, " I've shaved away some of the trance sounds, so this album blends more styles - tech house, prog trance and a techno twist. Musically, I feel much better with what I'm doing. The different genres keep things interesting and reflect my DJing – I like to play the best bit of every style of music."
 
The new album has progressive trance in the form of Hide, the pure prog houser Waking Up At Night, and A Better World, a collaboration with Andrew Bennett, who also worked on last year's single release Into the Danger. "I wanted to work with Andrew again because I really feel we're on the same level with making music, " says M.I.K.E. "I like to talk with collaborators about life before we work together, and Andrew and I talked about war, climate change ¬ the way the world is today. A Better World is about making things go better." For someone who was there for electro breakbeat in the 90's, scoring a massive success with Push as Strange World, it seems natural for M.I.K.E. to embrace a multitude of genres, who puts the maturing sound of his music down to the ever-changing advances in technology. "When I'm in the studio I like to make tracks that are influenced by playing out at gigs. It's my heart and mind that makes what I play. It took a year to make – I wanted to define my style and myself and do it within a time scale so the sound would be very current. This album is very personal, and I'm proud of it."


Tracklist

01. A Better World Feat Andrew Bennett
02. Hide
03. Nu sensation
04. Changes `R Good (Main-Tro Mix)
05. Pursuit Of Perfection
06. Waking Up At Night (Dub-Tro Edit)
07. Take It And Run
08. Moving On In Life
09. The Cosmo Club
10. Evolving Depths