ILLENIUM MAKES LONG-AWAITED TOMORROWLAND DEBUT WITH ONE OF THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT PERFORMANCES

Following historic sold-out Sphere Las Vegas residency, ILLENIUM brought his acclaimed live show to Europe's biggest festival stage for the first time.

GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-platinum artist, producer and songwriter ILLENIUM made his long-awaited debut at Tomorrowland over the past two weekends, delivering one of the festival's standout performances and marking a defining milestone in his European career. Luckily, his unforgettable set at The Great Library was professionally captured and is now available to watch, allowing those who were there to relive the experience and those who couldn't attend to witness the performance for the first time.

Originally scheduled to perform at Tomorrowland in 2020 before the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic, ILLENIUM finally took to the iconic festival stage for the first time, bringing his signature blend of cinematic production, emotionally charged music and immersive visuals to thousands of fans in Belgium and millions more watching around the world.

Adding to two unforgettable weekends, ILLENIUM also surprised fans with a performance at The Gathering on Thursday weekend 2, delivering an electrifying welcome set for Tomorrowland's camping community and helping kick off the festival in spectacular fashion. The three Tomorrowland performances capped an extraordinary period for the artist. Just days before arriving in Belgium, ILLENIUM completed his groundbreaking 11-show sold-out residency at Sphere Las Vegas, performing to more than 220,000 fans, and becoming only the second electronic artist ever to headline the revolutionary venue. 

Over the past decade, ILLENIUM has established himself as one of dance music's biggest global crossover artists. With more than 10 billion global streams, multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, chart-topping releases, and headline performances at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and EDC, he has built one of the most dedicated fan communities in electronic music.

Tomorrowland marks the beginning of an exciting new European chapter for the artist. Following years of headlining the biggest stages across North America, ILLENIUM is continuing to expand his global presence while entering a new creative era with new music on the horizon, including his highly anticipated collaboration with Marshmello and an upcoming studio album.

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KUKO BRINGS THE NEXT CHAPTER OF CATHARSIS WITH "NUR WEGEN DIR"

KUKO releases "Nur Wegen Dir," following the widely successful title track alongside Tokio Hotel. As the second single from his upcoming debut album, the release marks another deeper look into the world of CATHARSIS. While KUKO has built his reputation through uncompromising hard techno and large-scale rave energy, "Nur Wegen Dir" signals a defining crossover moment, balancing the raw intensity of his signature sound with an emotionally driven vocal performance entirely recorded by KUKO himself.

At its core, "Nur Wegen Dir", meaning "Only Because of You" in German, reflects the opening chapter of the CATHARSIS story: pressure, memory, fear, and everything buried for too long. Built around relentless percussion, distorted textures and KUKO's unmistakable hard techno production, the track pushes beyond functional club music into something more raw, cinematic and deeply personal. His own haunting vocal carries the emotional weight throughout, exploring obsession, attachment and the lasting imprint one person can leave behind, transforming deeply personal experiences into a visceral release on the dancefloor.

Long before its official release, "Nur Wegen Dir" had already become a standout moment in KUKO's live sets. He has been teasing the record for more than a year at some of the world's biggest festivals, including EDC Las Vegas, Kappa Futur Festival, and other major stages, where it quickly became a fan favorite. Its official release now captures the energy that audiences have already experienced firsthand while introducing a more vulnerable dimension to KUKO's evolving artistic identity.

The release marks another step deeper into the five-chapter world introduced with CATHARSIS, darker and more emotionally exposed than what came before, and a sign that behind the intensity of KUKO’s sounds lies a project driven not only by energy, but by transformation itself.

KUKO will bring the story of “Nur Wegen Dir’ to life with upcoming appearances at Dour Festival on July 16 and Tomorrowland on July 17. This will be followed by dates on his own ALL NIGHT LONG world tour, with stops in Chile (September 17), Madrid (October 11) and Amsterdam (October 23).

“Nur Wegen Dir” is available now on all streaming platforms.

About KUKO
KUKO is the Cologne-born artist translating hard techno into cinema, fashion, mythology, ritual and mass emotion. His foundation is underground rooms, industrial sound, warehouse culture and hard-music communities. His ambition is bigger than the classic DJ lane.

He is building a complete artist system: sound, image, symbols, clothing, physical objects, live ritual, community and cultural positioning. The tension is simple and strong: brutal sound, vulnerable emotional core. That is what separates KUKO from a normal hard-techno act. He is not only scaling shows. He is building belief. He gives the audience something to hear, something to wear, something to collect, something to enter and something to belong to.

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MEES SALOMÉ MARKS FIRST ORIGINAL RELEASE ON PURIFIED RECORDS WITH ‘COLOURBLIND’ FT. CHRIS HOWARD

Marking his first original release on the label, Dutch melodic sensation Mees Salomé returns to Purified Records with ‘Colourblind’, featuring globally renowned vocalist Chris Howard.

Building a slow-burning sonic environment, the track showcases Mees’ ability to fuse emotive storytelling with contemporary club sensibilities. The production steadily unfolds, delivering a compelling journey that is perfectly underscored by Chris’ moving vocal performance.

Speaking about the release, Mees Salomé mentioned:

“"Imagine standing in a room full of people and feeling completely disconnected. Like a wallflower, you're watching the world move around you. Everything muted, slipping out of focus, but feeling a calm sense of serenity. Getting sucked in deeper, and surrendering to it.

The production lives in that same headspace: emotive melodic progressions layered over a driving, hypnotic groove, shifting between raw, atmospheric tension and moments of release. A push and pull between numbness and feeling, between drifting under and catching a small window of clarity."

Reflecting on the record, Chris Howard mentioned:

“Colourblind is about feeling a bit detached from reality and finding the peace and joy that can bring. It can be about losing yourself in music, a good book, or something entirely different. Sometimes the worlds we create inside can be more adventurous than reality. The track portrays that feeling. It's the second collaboration between Mees Salomé and myself and merges our styles perfectly.”

Classically trained in piano, guitar and drums, Mees Salomé brings a strong melodic instinct to productions defined by warm harmonies, evolving textures and immersive grooves. With releases on This Never Happened, Colorize, Purified, Armada and Filth on Acid, his music has earned support from artists including Adriatique, Lane 8, CamelPhat, Nora En Pure, Joris Voorn and Kölsch, as well as BBC Radio 1. Beyond his productions, Mees has cultivated a dedicated global following through his Distant event series, which has grown from a podcast into a sold-out concert experience built around open-to-close sets, storytelling and deep musical connection. As his international profile continues to rise, Mees represents a new generation of melodic artists crafting emotionally resonant experiences that stay with listeners long after the music ends.

Emerging from an indie background as the former frontman of The Brahms, Chris Howard has carved out a distinctive place in the progressive and deep house scene. His signature airy falsetto and understated songwriting bring together minimalist melodies and emotionally resonant lyrics, creating a sound that feels both intimate and immersive. Having collaborated with artists including Helsloot, Nils Hoffmann, Ferry Corsten, Mees Salomé and Corren Cavini, Chris is rapidly establishing himself as one of the genre's sought-after vocalists. His songwriting is driven by a desire to uncover deeper emotional truths, leaving space for listeners to find their own meaning in every song.

The ‘Colourblind’ artwork features a macro shot of a spiraled Christmas tree worm, captured by Juan Camilo Mora (@jcmoraphotography). While the ocean’s smallest creatures are often overlooked, understanding them is essential to solving some of our biggest environmental challenges. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences advances research on microscopic marine life, uncovering how tiny organisms shape ocean health, climate systems, and the future of life on Earth.

Juan is a Colombian biologist, UW photographer and expedition leader. He has devoted his life to work as an ocean advocate using his camera as a tool to reach out, educate and share his passion for the ocean. Found in his camera a powerful tool to share that message and show others why it is so important to take care of our planet.

Looking to help further protect the planet? Explore Only One, the action platform for the planet, on a mission to restore ocean health and tackle the climate crisis - with the power of the people.

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Mees Salomé | Chris Howard | Purified Records | Only One