Dutch-born, Singapore-based DJ and producer Mike Risk draws on more than three decades in house music for Now Is Forever, a ten-track album spanning deep and soulful house, acid and techno, featuring collaborations with Mike Dunn, Bluey Robinson, Marc Evans and John Agesilas.

Created alongside long-time studio collaborator Greg van Bueren (Hardsoul), the album brings together the sounds, influences and experiences that have shaped Risk’s musical outlook since his early years in Amsterdam. From the soulful traditions of New York and Chicago house to the tougher edges of Detroit techno and acid, Now Is Forever moves through different corners of underground dance music, reflecting a career spent exploring the connections between them.

The album takes its name from a simple idea: the particular feeling of being completely absorbed in music, when everything outside the dancefloor temporarily falls away. For Risk, it’s a sensation that has remained unchanged through decades of DJing, producing and travelling, and one that informs the album’s approach to house music’s past and present.

“Now is forever, and forever is now. For me, this album is about honouring that little kid inside me who fell in love with house music and never let go. When you’re completely lost in the music, there’s no past or future. Just that moment. And some moments stay with you forever.” Mike Risk

Across ten tracks, Risk and van Bueren move between warm, vocal-led house, deeper instrumental passages and rawer club material, drawing on a broad musical vocabulary without losing the album’s connection to the dancefloor. The variety reflects Risk’s approach as a DJ, where different styles and moods are brought together over the course of a set, allowing the music to move naturally between moments of intensity, reflection and release.

The collaborations add further depth to the record. Chicago house veteran Mike Dunn appears on Let Me Take You There, bringing a direct connection to one of the scenes that helped shape Risk’s musical identity. British singer Bluey Robinson contributes to Your Love, while John Agesilas features on Back to the Club. Elsewhere, tracks including Future Madness, The One, Question & Answer and Acid Groove explore different sides of Risk’s production style, before the album closes with its title track.

Risk’s own history runs through much of the music. He first became established in Amsterdam’s underground scene during the 1990s through Club Risk, helping bring international house artists to Dutch audiences. He later formed part of RiskSoundSystem, whose releases included The Sound Is Yours, subsequently featured in Netflix’s Black Mirror. His productions have also appeared on Kenny Dope’s Dope Wax and Terry Hunter’s T’s Crates, while his DJ career has taken him from Southport Weekender and Ministry of Sound to Chicago’s Chosen Few Picnic.

Since moving to Singapore in 2019, Risk has continued to DJ and produce, maintaining the international connections that have been part of his career from the beginning. Now Is Forever brings that history into a single project, shaped by the records he grew up with, the people he has worked alongside and the experiences accumulated over countless nights in clubs.

There is inevitably an element of nostalgia in revisiting the sounds that first drew him to house music, but the album is equally concerned with their continued relevance. For Risk, the music has never belonged to a particular decade or location. It has remained a constant through changing scenes, cities and generations, with each new experience adding something to his understanding of it.

Now Is Forever is the result of that ongoing relationship, an album rooted in house music’s history while remaining firmly connected to the present.

Mike Risk – Now Is Forever is released 12 November.

Tracklist
01. Your Love (with Bluey Robinson)
02. Let Me Take You There (with Mike Dunn)
03. Future Madness
04. The One
05. Back to the Club (with John Agesilas)
06. End This Way
07. Question & Answer
08. Acid Groove
09. New Moon
10. Now Is Forever (with Marc Evans)

MIKE RISK – NOW IS FOREVER
LABEL: MWR MUSIC
FORMATS: DIGITAL + VINYL
RELEASE DATE: 12 NOVEMBER