Released October 2 via Musical Freedom / Atlantic Records, the new single pushes into a much faster lane at 143 BPM, blending euphoric trance melodies with the harder edge of today’s European club scene.

Tiësto Goes Full Speed

‘Hard To Be Around’ draws from the vocal trance and Eurotrance sounds that defined parts of the ’90s and 2000s, while giving them a modern, high-energy treatment.

Fast kick drums and driving basslines keep the track moving, while bright synths bring the euphoric side of trance to the forefront. At 143 BPM, there is very little downtime.

However, the track isn’t all about intensity.

Its vocals add a more emotional layer, touching on self-doubt and the complicated feeling behind being “hard to be around.” That contrast gives the production a darker edge beneath its high-speed energy.

A New Generation Meets a Trance Icon

The collaboration also brings together two different sides of the current dance scene.

Tiësto’s history with trance runs deep, while CLEOPARD2000 and CH4YN represent a newer generation of artists coming out of Berlin’s rapidly evolving club culture.

Together, they tap into the current appetite for faster tempos and harder trance without losing the emotional melodies that made the genre so powerful in the first place.

‘Hard To Be Around’ also fits into Tiësto’s broader Prismatic era, where the Dutch icon has been exploring different sides of his sound and connecting his classic dance influences with newer movements across electronic music.

For fans of fast trance, ‘Hard To Be Around’ delivers a meeting point between nostalgia and the modern rave floor and at 143 BPM, it wastes no time getting there.

The post Tiësto Joins CLEOPARD2000 and CH4YN for High-Speed ‘Hard To Be Around’ appeared first on EDMTunes.

The Previous Height

Trance music was riding high during the Golden Era of dance music (2010-2015). When progressive house was king, trance was right there along with it. The highest of highs combined with infectious melodies to put dance music fans into the oft-mentioned state of trance. This was the time when Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance took over the Ultra Megastructure stage each Sunday.

You could say the absolute height for trance music (in the US) was around 2013, when Armin van Buuren’s Intense album was released. The hype around the singles was huge; there was a big Armin Only Intense showcase, and then a flood of excellent remixes. This is also the time when Dash Berlin and Gareth Emery were releasing some of their most beloved tracks (and remixes), and the then-unknown talent Andrew Rayel was captivating the trance music community from abroad. The big room trance sound took off with W&W‘s D# Fat collaboration with Armin, and trance continued mirroring the trends on the mainstage but with added intensity and emotion.

The Wave Begins to Wane

In 2015, the Golden Era basically ended, and big room fatigue began to set in as attention shifted towards “Future House” and less intense, less serious sounds. By this time, trance artists like W&W, Ummet Ozcan, Dash Berlin, and Tritonal had shifted to a big room mainstage sound and left the trance stages behind. Once the big room sound started to wane, they followed the trends and started making different music. This was around the time of Armin van Buuren’s next album, Embrace and Above & Beyond’s We Are All We Need. At this time, the trance scene was still kicking with beloved tracks and albums, but its future was a bit murkier. The first sign that the scene was fracturing was Ultra Music Festival slotting Eric Prydz and deadmau5 into the ASOT Stage in 2015. While the fans are probably shared and the music is similar in many ways, Eric Prydz and deadmau5 are not trance artists. Eric Prydz has continued to play at the megastructure at Ultra ever since. It was not for lack of trance artists, but it was because there were no trance artists besides Armin van Buuren or Above & Beyond who could generate the hype and the crowds to fill that massive stage at peak time.

Then, as we approached 2017 and 2018, trance got a second wind of energy and enthusiasm. This came from two places: one was the trend of aliases, which allowed artists like W&W and Sander van Doorn to dip their toes back into the trance scene. As a result, trance music was still riding high with a stage takeover at Tomorrowland’s brand new Freedom Stage in 2017 and 2018. The second factor was the rise of Vini Vici‘s big room psy-trance sound, which borders on acid techno. This sound injected some serious energy into the scene, and it also exposed sounds like tech trance to wider audiences. However, this sound started to drown out the “ssssserious uplifting” emotional trance music to the point where trance music became so energetic and intense that it had lost some of the magical journey that fans loved. That’s not to say there weren’t bright spots, as there are always exciting producers in the space, but the attention was focused in one direction.

The Trance Trough

In 2018, while trance music was feeling a bit directionless, techno was rising. The #trancefamily that had been die-hard fans from 2011 to 2018 found themselves drifting towards techno more and more because it offered those long hypnotic journeys that trance was all about. The techno at that time was dark and intense, but also full of emotion, even if the emotions were not always rainbows and unicorns. Eric Prydz’ Cirez D [] Adam Beyer performance in Miami during Music Week 2018 was a bit of a watershed moment for trance fans, as they fell deeply in love with techno and names like Enrico Sangiuliano at that point.

One interesting thing to note here about 2018: This was Ultra’s big anniversary where Swedish House Mafia returned, but before that happened, there was a ton of speculation about an ASOT special guest. EDM fans everywhere were hoping/praying that Tiesto would make a return to trance and close the ASOT stage at the Megastructure on Sunday. When it didn’t happen, fans were definitely disappointed, but it turns out he was correct to wait until the moment was right.

Then, in 2019, a run of bad luck ended up being an omen for trance music. First, Ultra Music Festival was moved to Virginia Key and separated the Resistance Stages from the rest of the festival. For the first time, A State of Trance would not take over the Megastructure on Sunday. It was given a purpose-built live stage that was covered, but smaller than the megastructure and without the overhead light panels. It’s hard to replicate the feeling of trance music at such a grand stage. Then, in the same year, the Tomorrowland Freedom Stage collapsed before Weekend 2’s ASOT takeover, leaving ASOT to perform in front of the grand indoor stage. That would be the last year that trance music was given the larger stages at Ultra or Tomorrowland. After that, Ultra was moved to the Worldwide Stage at Ultra and has not returned to Tomorrowland.

The Rise of Afterlife

At the very same time that trance’s influence was receding, a new sound was catching the ears of trance music fans. It was melodic techno, introduced at that time by Tale of Us and their Afterlife label. It had the deep emotions and lengthy journeys of trance, but the dark hypnotic rhythm of techno. Perhaps what sold trance fans on Afterlife was its ability to start the musical journey in a very dark place, but meander its way over the course of hours to a soaring, uplifting finale that felt like the best of trance.

Tale of Us played the very first CORE stage in 2017, but in 2018 they played the Garden of Madness, and in 2019 they hosted their very first Afterlife takeover at the Atmosphere stage. It was during this era that Matteo and Carmine introduced the world to an entire roster of incredible new talent along with impeccable branding. Afterlife at this time was still IYKYK, and that was part of its appeal. The people with the best taste you knew were rocking the Afterlife hats. Trance fans were eating this stuff up. This was the time when Tale of Us was premiering the melodic techno classics like Stephan Bodzin‘s ‘Strand’, Mathame‘s ‘Nothing Around Us’ and Tale of Us heaters like ‘Nova’, ‘Time’ and their incredible ‘Cafe del Mar’ remix.

As luck would have it, in the very same weekend that ASOT lost the Tomorrowland Freedom Stage, Afterlife was hosting the Atmosphere stage to legendary effect. This was before the screens, when there was just a literal hanging man and a million lasers. The hype continued to grow and grow as we were introduced to names like Adriatique, Agents of Time, Mind Against, Massano, Colyn, Mathame, Chris Avantgarde, Kevin de Vries and Argy.

By the time the world emerged from COVID lockdowns, the sound inspired by Anyma‘s ‘Running’ had fully come into its own. Kevin de Vries’ ‘Dance With Me’ was a smash everywhere and trance was relegated to the small stages. From 2022 onwards, Tomorrowland’s trance representation shifted towards more niche psytrance sounds on small stages. EDC followed suit, even as its own Dreamstate brand had been going strong since 2015. While Dreamstate still held a presence at Insomniac events, it became smaller and smaller over time. The big names from the height of trance were experimenting with different sounds and trying to find a new footing.

The Afterlife Downswing

While the reasons why are up for debate, and only truly known to Carmine and Matteo, Afterlife began to slow down its pace of releases. Now that there were so many talented melodic techno artists wanting a platform for their new music, it was getting very difficult for Afterlife to accommodate them all with one release per week or less. As a result, many melodic techno artists found themselves broadening their horizons musically, and many of them found refuge at Armin van Buuren’s Armada. You saw artists from the Afterlife stable releasing different sounds that were not necessarily melodic techno, but they generally still featured that emotional core.

Soon, we saw the biggest names from melodic techno starting their own labels to keep releasing more and more music, which included music that was not always melodic techno. However, Afterlife as a brand was bigger than ever, led by its game-changing events that became a must-attend all over the world. Carrying Afterlife even higher was the ever-evolving Anyma project that just kept getting bigger and bigger. Everybody wanted to experience the music and those visuals in the grandest settings. Melodic Techno became the leading subgenre of music and began to influence all other artists in dance music, save for those doing house and tech house. Carmine’s MRAK project continues as well, but he has stayed more true to the original version of melodic techno.

Perhaps the rise of Anyma played a role in things, but Afterlife started to lose its footing as the guidepost for melodic techno as Anyma began to outshine Afterlife with his incredible visual shows and his more intense anthemic music that was making its way to main stages. In 2022, we started to see festivals like Tomorrowland and EDC putting techno artists on the main stage, so these artists were reaching for the stars. Also, during this time, we saw the rise of Afrohouse, which drew the attention of many Afterlife artists like Camelphat and Adriatique.

The Tale of Us Split

Melodic Techno was reaching its absolute height in 2024, heading into 2025 with Afterlife events around the world, a branding collaboration with Tomorrowland, and Anyma’s game-changing Sphere residency, but those heights were short-lived. Afterlife Tulum 2025 turned out to be perhaps the final Tale of Us performance (so far) and the legendary duo went their separate ways sans announcement. Without those incredible minds and that incredible brand leading the melodic techno scene, there was a bit of a vacuum that developed. Who would pick up the mantle and lead the genre forward? Who would be able to replicate the feel of Afterlife? As Afterlife began to slow down, the melodic techno artists scattered.

Melodic Techno and Trance

So as the melodic techno scene began shifting, we saw a number of artists dip their toes into the trance world. A State of Trance Utrecht (and later Rotterdam) began featuring some melodic techno artists, but that wasn’t the only interesting development that took place. Insomniac ended up starting a trend that is now bearing fruit in a big way. As trance waned in the scene, Insomniac made the (at the time) confusing decision to book the melodic techno artists on the Dreamstate stage as opposed to its Factory 93 house and techno stage. Up until this time, and even during this time, Melodic Techno was considered techno and was usually booked on a techno stage or performing under a techno brand. When I first noticed EDC slotting melodic techno artists on the Dreamstate stage I was puzzled, but they turned out to be prescient.

The Shift in Techno

This is a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario, but as Insomniac began separating Melodic Techno from techno and pairing it with trance, we started to see a shift in techno music as well. Techno music began to shift more towards high-energy party music, but was not as dark and not as deeply emotional as it had been back in 2018. This may be due to the rise of John Summit’s Experts Only label, which began showcasing music that blurred the lines between techno, house, and melodic techno and blew up.

We saw artists from Drumcode and Afterlife releasing on Experts Only to great acclaim. In an interview with SCRIPT in early 2026, he told me that the trend of the moment was that blend of house and techno, leaning more towards house. Artists like SCRIPT, Camelphat, and Layton Giordani started playing more house music as opposed to techno and melodic techno. This coincides with the rise of house artists like PAWSA, Prospa, KETTAMA, and others who play music that I call “sesh” party music. So by 2025, we saw a techno scene that was riding high, but had seemingly purged itself of much of the heavy emotion that it once had. Insomniac was vindicated as House and Techno were merging and melodic techno was being pushed out of the techno scene towards trance and Afrohouse.

The Return of Tiesto

While many in the EDM scene had begun to assume Tiesto would never return to his roots, they were all underestimating him greatly. Apparently an expert at reading the trends in the dance music scene outlined above, Tiesto realized sometime in 2025 that the time was right for a huge move. The stars had aligned for him as melodic techno was a bit directionless and the trance scene had become a niche, but he saw that a true fusion of the two could really push things forward. With the fall of Afterlife, there was a huge vacuum in the techno scene, both musically and as a brand. Of course, Armin van Buuren and ASOT continued on with their strong fanbase, but there was still a ton of room for another big brand in the trance world.

So in November 2025, Tiesto wiped his social media pages and soon announced a complete rebrand and new direction. He ended his Club Life radio show, dedicated to mainstream EDM, and launched his Prismatic brand. Prismatic became Tiesto’s new trance-and-techno-focused brand and label, one that we can see hosting festival stages in 2027. Tiesto kicked off his rebirth with a performance at Insomniac’s Dreamstate So Cal in 2025, and he managed to execute this rebrand perfectly.

If you haven’t seen Tiesto since his rebrand, you need to. It’s more than just a combination of trance and melodic techno, but it’s the realization that trance music is big enough to include all music that is heavy on the feels. There is house music and even some hip-hop-inspired music included, but the end result is that euphoric feeling that we get from trance and melodic techno. His recent sets are captivating, and to me, the best set I’ve witnessed in 2026 was Tiësto’s We Belong Here Miami set in February. It brought back feels I haven’t felt since the height of trance in 2013.

The Trance Revival

Tiesto’s rebrand breathed new life into trance music and has given it the confidence to expand once again. This new version of trance is not just trance; it’s also techno. While Tiesto had some limited performances since his rebrand, he is playing it smart. He is following the path that techno artists like Anyma followed, with grand set-piece performances at the Belgium Atomium and headlining trance and house/techno festivals. There was no Tiesto at Ultra or Tomorrowland in 2026, and that was intentional for sure, but Tiesto did perform a sunrise trance set at EDC Vegas in homage to Insomniac that hosted his great rebirth.

Now, A State of Trance is looking to host more marquee events in the US, and it is also featuring very interesting collaborations such as Armin’s F2F set with John Summit. The takeaway is that in 2026 trance is any music that is uplifting, emotional, and makes you feel those feels! There is a palpable excitement around Dreamstate SoCal 2026, even when Tiesto won’t be performing. In fact, Above & Beyond will be performing a trance classics set as a sign of the exciting new moment we are in. Trance artists are playing tech trance and techno or incorporating those sounds more than ever. Giuseppe Ottaviani launched his OTTAGON techno alias that is collaborating with Anyma, and Andrew Rayel launched his EXTASIA alias as a return to that intense purist trance we all loved him for back in 2014. Then you have artists like Aaron Hibell who expertly weave high-intensity techno with soaring trance and even afrohouse to bring that magical sense of euphoria to his live shows. EXTASIA and Aaron Hibell will both be at Dreamstate SoCal as well. It’s not common knowledge yet, but there are quite a few exciting young talents in trance these days just waiting to get their chance at the US market. Besides Aaron Hibell, OTTAGON, and Extasia, you have Richard Durance, Ben Hemsley, Lostly, Amy Wiles, KI/KI who are reviving club culture by combining trance’s euphoric melodies with euro dance or hard techno sounds.

I think that we are primed for a trance explosion in festival season 2027 led by Tiësto. I would not be surprised to see him as a big headliner in 2027, but not as a mainstage headliner. I think you’ll see PRISMATIC hosting the Resistance Megastructure or Tomorrowland’s Freedom or Crystal Garden Stages as Tiesto is charting the path of a serious underground-style artist. It makes perfect sense that PRISMATIC could fill the void left by Afterlife.

Tiesto is not just back as a trance/underground artist, but he’s pushing the sound forward through PRISMATIC and Musical Freedom. Artists like BLR, TH;EN, Bryan Kearney, Lostly, B Jones, Hannah Laing, and more are all getting plenty of new exposure thanks to Tiesto and he is becoming a tastemaker in this new scene.

In a time when the music festival scene has started to feel repetitive and lacking hype, there is a world of opportunity in this trance revival. We could see trance return to the Ultra Megastructure with artists like Armin van Buuren’s GAIA alias, or we could even see the eventual return of Armin van Buuren and Tiësto’s Alibi collaborative project. The collaborations between melodic techno artists like Argy and Anyma and the trance world continue to excite and entertain fans as well. The possibilities are endless when these worlds collide. The dance music scene is entering a very exciting new period, and trance music is leading the way.

The post Trance is Coming Back and Here’s Why appeared first on EDMTunes.

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A Legendary Imprint’s Legacy

Musical Freedom has dominated mainstage dance music since 2009. It served as the launchpad for anthems that defined modern festival culture. Artists like Oliver Heldens, KSHMR, and Sandro Silva dropped career-defining records under its banner. For fifteen years, the imprint stood as a gold standard for festival house. However, Tiësto’s current creative headspace looks drastically different today.

Embracing the Prismatic Vision

Over the past year, Tiësto embarked on a full-circle musical transformation. He launched his genre-bending Prismatic live shows to celebrate melodic trance and progressive energy. He even retired his legendary Club Life radio show to debut the Prismatic series.

Renaming the label aligns with that exact artistic rebirth. Prismatic represents a kaleidoscopic soundscape rather than a single genre box. It blends uplifting euphoria, deep rolling basslines, and hypnotic underground vibes.

Retiring the Musical Freedom name would mark a bittersweet farewell for longtime dance fans. Yet, a fresh aesthetic might give emerging producers a whole new sonic platform.

What Happens Next

Industry rebrands of this magnitude rarely happen without serious intention behind the scenes. Tiësto does not casually drop public teasers without a well-calculated plan. Comments under the post are already buzzing with excitement and intense speculation.

Fans clearly recognize that the transition from Musical Freedom to Prismatic feels almost inevitable. Keep your eyes glued to his social feeds over the coming weeks. An official label announcement could arrive sooner than you think.

The post Tiësto Hints at Rebrand of His Musical Freedom Label appeared first on EDMTunes.

Tiësto tops the bill, marking his first appearance at Dreamstate Vancouver. The Dutch DJ has been leaning back into his trance roots lately, and this booking follows a well-received trance set he played at Dreamstate SoCal in 2025 — a notable shift for an artist who spent the better part of a decade parked firmly in the big-room and mainstage pop-EDM lane.

He’s joined by English producer and composer Aaron Hibell, along with trance scene staple Dash Berlin, whose emotive, vocal-driven sound has made him a fixture on trance lineups worldwide for over a decade. Finnish producer Darude — still best known for the 1999 crossover hit ‘Sandstorm,’ though he’s continued releasing trance and progressive material since — also rounds out the top of the bill.

The lineup gets deeper with Dutch artist Benwal, Irish selector Matty Ralph, and uplifting trance act Modeā. Together it’s a lineup that spans the genre’s classic-era veterans and newer names carrying the sound forward.

One Stage, Full Focus on Trance

Dreamstate has built its identity around trance specifically, tracing the genre’s roots while pushing its current and future sound rather than folding it into a broader multi-genre festival format. For this edition, TradeX gets converted into a single-stage trance environment, keeping the focus tight rather than splitting attention across multiple stages and sounds.

GA and VIP tickets for Dreamstate Vancouver are on sale now at drmst.cc/vancouver-tix. More details and updates are expected on Dreamstate’s Instagram and Facebook pages as the November date approaches.

The post Dreamstate Vancouver Returns Nov. 28 with Tiësto, Dash Berlin appeared first on EDMTunes.

More than 20 years after the final Tiësto In Concert show, the legendary DJ and producer has announced the return of the iconic format. On June 19, 2027, Tiësto will take over Legia Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, for a special four-hour performance as part of the Warsaw Music Festival.

A Return to Tiësto’s Roots

Tiësto In Concert originally became a defining moment in dance music history during the early 2000s.

In 2003, Tiësto became the first DJ to headline a solo stadium concert when he performed an eight-hour set at GelreDome in Arnhem. Around 25,000 fans attended the landmark event, which featured live vocalists and large-scale production.

The concept returned in 2004 before eventually coming to an end later that year.

Now, more than two decades later, Tiësto is bringing it back.

The Warsaw performance will run for four hours and take fans through music from across his career. It also marks the first-ever Tiësto In Concert show in Poland and the only event of its kind in Europe.

Revisiting The Trance Era

The timing feels particularly fitting for Tiësto.

Over the past year, the superstar has increasingly returned to the sounds that helped establish his career. Classics such as ‘Traffic’, ‘Lethal Industry’, ‘Suburban Train’, ‘Love Comes Again’, and ‘Adagio for Strings’ remain some of the most recognizable tracks from his trance era.

Tiësto has also been teasing a new trance-inspired album, with the first three tracks already released. More unreleased material has appeared in his recent sets.

His recent schedule has also included a solo show beneath Brussels’ Atomium, a performance at Creamfields, and a five-week residency at UNVRS Ibiza.

Tiësto In Concert Returns

The Warsaw show offers Tiësto a chance to revisit the music and atmosphere that helped turn him into a global dance music icon.

This time, the stage will be in Poland. The date is June 19, 2027.

Tickets for Tiësto In Concert at Legia Stadium go on sale September 14 at 7 PM.

After more than 20 years, the wait for another Tiësto In Concert is finally coming to an end.

The post Tiësto Revives ‘Tiësto In Concert’ for Massive 2027 Warsaw Show appeared first on EDMTunes.

The 75-minute set spans multiple generations of dance music and Tiësto’s career, with house, techno, trance and bigroom tracks flowing seamlessly throughout. Standout moments include the 2025 remix of Delerium’s ‘Silence,’ ‘Lethal Industry,’ ‘Adagio For Strings‘ and several unreleased IDs, including a new remix of ‘Plummet – Damaged‘ (not to be confused with Eli Brown’s recent take on the record).

Unsurprisingly, Tiësto drew a massive crowd and kept them engaged and dancing to close out an intense festival weekend. Creamfields’ incredible production only further elevated the experience. Luckily, attendees can relive the set and those who missed it get a chance to experience the musical journey at home. View Tiësto’s Creamfields full tracklist here.

Tiësto’s upcoming tour schedule takes him all around the world, with exciting club and festival appearances across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia already scheduled through February of next year.

The post [WATCH] Tiësto Shares Legendary Creamfields Steel Yard Set appeared first on EDMTunes.

Each day of the Shanghai edition gets its own curated bill rather than a shared lineup across both days, giving attendees a reason to show up for both. October 17 brings Axwell, Lost Frequencies, Bhaskar, Carly Wilford, Cassian b2b Kevin de Vries, DJ Sally, Hauzer, Linska, MC Stretch, Morten and Nosi. October 18 shifts gears with Tiësto, ARTBAT b2b R3HAB, Alison Wonderland, Miss Monique, Joel Corry, Bhaskar, Carly Wilford, Evin King, Mansun Lui, MC Stretch and Nosi. The b2b pairings — ARTBAT with R3HAB, Cassian with Kevin de Vries — are the kind of unexpected genre crossovers that tend to define these Tomorrowland brand extensions outside of Boom.

The production side of things has been overhauled for this second run. Hero Dome now features a 99-meter curved LED screen paired with 80 ceiling screens, wrapping the crowd in a 360-degree visual environment built around an underwater theme — a signature Tomorrowland storytelling move translated for an indoor arena setting rather than the usual outdoor mainstage. GA+ ticket holders get access to a new area called Harbour Villa, a premium lounge space meant for hanging out between sets rather than just watching them. The festival is also bringing back its Michelin-level food and beverage program, brand activations, and a merch line designed specifically for the Shanghai crowd.

Ticket Details and Pricing

Tickets are being sold through INS Land’s app and WeChat mini-program, along with Damai, Ticket Planet, Juss Sports and Mei-Ta Selections. Single-day GA runs ¥788, with GA+ at ¥1288. Two-day passes are priced at ¥1488 for GA and ¥2388 for GA+, with the upgraded tier including express-lane entry and access to the Harbour Villa area. Buyers who complete registration through their ticketing platform’s customer service using the keyword “Tomorrowland” also unlock an exclusive Treasure Case.

Shanghai has become a focal point for Tomorrowland’s push into Asia, and this expansion to a two-day format signals the organization is betting on sustained demand in the region rather than treating the market as a one-off. “We look forward to coming back to China for the second edition of The Magic of Tomorrowland,” said Debby Wilmsen, spokesperson for Tomorrowland, pointing to the growing appetite for the festival’s experience among Chinese fans.

Pre-register for your tickets here.

The post The Magic of Tomorrowland Returns to Shanghai With Axwell, Tiësto and More appeared first on EDMTunes.

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Tiësto first premiered the track live at We Belong Here in Miami in March 2026 before teasing it further during his set at EDC Las Vegas. KUKO, a Cologne-based DJ and producer, has rapidly ascended through the European underground techno scene, with the original track defined by a driving 149 BPM and a heavy bassline. Tiësto’s remix offers a fresh perspective, slowing the tempo while expertly retaining the original’s signature ringtone and iconic ‘voicemail’ vocal hook.

Tiësto’s remix injects peak-time energy into the original, transitioning from the iconic ‘voicemail’ hook into a driving, trance-infused soundscape. The track’s punchy bassline and crisp leads provide the perfect final touch to this modern reimagining.

The track is now available on all streaming platforms.

The post Tiësto Remixes Kukos ‘Voicemail’ bringing a Unique Trance Inspired Sound appeared first on EDMTunes.

A key takeaway from the discussion is that Tiësto’s return to trance was not driven by simple nostalgia, but rather by the genuine inspiration he found in a new generation of artists. As the genre has evolved into high-BPM, techno-infused soundscapes, Tiësto revealed that witnessing younger producers re-energize the scene provided him with a fresh perspective on his own artistic identity.

“I started hearing all these incredible young DJs taking trance elements and putting this totally new, fast, raw energy into it. It made me realize that trance wasn’t stuck in 2005 anymore—it’s alive, it’s evolving, and it inspired me to dive back in with a fresh mindset.”

For years, critics accused Tiësto of abandoning his roots for mainstage pop success. However, in his chat with Resident Advisor, the producer opened up about what the genre meant to him at different stages of his life. Walking away in the late 2000’s was a matter of creative instinct he felt trapped by fan expectations and wanted to push himself into new territories. But coming back decades later feels like completing a circle on his own terms.

Recently he released a full 3 hour trance set from the Atomium in Brussels that highlights is past and present sounds. Tiësto isn’t done yet as he has hinted at a new trance album and continues to release singles. With his most recent trance inspired single ‘Echo Sax Finale’.

The post Tiësto Reflects on Going Back To Trance In RA Interview appeared first on EDMTunes.

The performance marked Tiësto’s first solo show in Brussels in more than a decade. He also delivered a rare three-hour set, giving fans plenty of time to hear both classic records and newer material.

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Tiësto Brings Back His Classic Sound

The long set gave Tiësto room to move through different eras of his career. Rather than rushing through a short festival performance, he could let the music breathe and build across the night.

The set opened with ‘Echo Sax Finale,’ his collaboration with Caleb Arredondo. From there, Tiësto worked several familiar records into the performance, including ‘Adagio for Strings’ and his 2025 remix of ‘Traffic.’

He also played his edit of Nalin & Kane’s ‘Open Your Eyes.’ These moments added a strong nostalgic touch to the night while keeping the energy moving.

However, the biggest talking point came from the final stretch of the set. Tiësto closed with Cherry Moon Trax’s ‘The House Of House’ in the Thomas Schumacher Remix / Tiësto Edit.

The choice felt especially fitting for a Brussels performance. The track also paid tribute to the legendary Cherry Moon club and the Belgian dance music scene.

A Unique Setting at the Atomium

Of course, the location made the night even more special. The Atomium provided a striking backdrop for the open-air event, turning one of Brussels’ most recognizable landmarks into a giant dancefloor.

Hangar described the event as Tiësto’s first solo Brussels show in over a decade. The City of Brussels also highlighted the performance as a large-scale experience at one of the city’s most famous landmarks.

The sold-out crowd filled the area around the Atomium throughout the evening. Meanwhile, footage from the event shows fans dancing beneath the monument as Tiësto worked through his three-hour set.

Tiësto Gives Fans Three Hours

The extended format was arguably one of the best parts of the night. Tiësto had the freedom to move between melodic moments, classic trance records, house influences, and his own biggest productions.

That approach gave the set a different feel from a typical festival appearance. Instead of focusing only on current hits, Tiësto could revisit sounds from different stages of his career.

The reaction from fans also reflected that. Online discussions around the performance praised the three-hour format and the amount of classic trance and house music throughout the set.

For an artist with more than three decades in dance music, the format offered a chance to tell a much bigger story.

Tiësto’s Atomium performance ultimately felt like more than another stop on his touring schedule. It brought together his history, his current sound, and the influence of Belgian club culture in one setting.

The post Tiësto Takes Over Brussels’ Atomium With Historic Three-Hour Open-Air Set appeared first on EDMTunes.