Justin Hawkes returns with Now Or Never, his second studio album and a deeply immersive statement from an artist who has spent more than a decade pushing the boundaries of American drum & bass. Described by Hawkes as “Experiential Drum & Bass,” the twelve-track project is designed to be experienced as one continuous journey rather than a collection of disconnected singles, blending tech-driven drum & bass, future jungle, halftime, modern jump-up and progressive, anthemic moments into a seamless narrative.
Mixed continuously from beginning to end, Now Or Never moves with the momentum of a DJ set while retaining the detail and emotional depth of a studio album. Its production is built for physical environments — from warehouses and festival stages to club systems — but rewards listeners who experience its intricate sound design through headphones.
The album is also an entirely personal creation. Justin Hawkes wrote and produced every track, contributed vocals and lyrics throughout the project, and helped shape the visual world surrounding the album. At a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the creative process, Hawkes deliberately kept Now Or Never human-made from the music through the artwork, photography and video.
Following his 2022 debut album Existential, Now Or Never centers on a deceptively simple question: when passion calls, do you answer? Where Existential examined the contrast between tragedy and harmony, the new record treats passion as a force that moves through a lifetime, shaping identity, memory, relationships and instinct.
Each of the album’s twelve chapters represents a different expression of that force, touching on resistance, attraction, discovery, dance, healing, love and self-realization. Instead of constructing the project around individual singles, Hawkes approaches Now Or Never as a complete world, with its musical and visual elements connected throughout.
“Now or Never captures a complete cycle of time and transcendence; it narrates a continuous path of transformation within my life, and asks deep questions about the nature of core passions and their place in the soul,” says Justin Hawkes.
He continues, “While I was writing this album, I explored the feelings which brought me the core values I have always held — whether it was the mind’s strife against authoritarianism, our nature as humans to seek affection, or to explore and innovate, or to gather together and dance.”
For Hawkes, that journey ultimately becomes an exploration of consciousness itself. The album moves through twelve interconnected chapters, with each song representing a stage in a larger process of discovery and realization.
“In this turning point aeon of artificial intelligence, I chose explicitly to use human-only creative, and intentionally directed and created all audio, text, photo and video artwork with the help and eyes of Chase Yaws and Sadler Milbrath,” Hawkes explains. “I’m hopeful that anyone who listens can find a part of themselves within this album, and help them realize and love the beautiful dichotomy of light and darkness which exists within us all.”
That philosophy reflects the unusual path Hawkes has carved out within drum & bass. His career began in 2011 in Southwest Virginia, eventually taking him into a genre whose historical center of gravity has largely remained in Europe. After initially producing under the name Flite, he adopted the Justin Hawkes moniker in 2020, using it to explore a broader spectrum of electronic music.
His 2022 debut album Existential established that direction, with tracks such as the country-rock-influenced “Better Than Gold” demonstrating his willingness to pull ideas from outside traditional drum & bass conventions.
Since then, Hawkes has earned support from major names including Sub Focus, Andy C, Wilkinson, RL Grime, Knife Party, Pendulum, Porter Robinson and Black Tiger Sex Machine. His catalog has surpassed 100 million streams, while his touring career has taken him through more than 14 countries, including performances at Alexandra Palace in London, Electric Daisy Carnival and Tomorrowland in Belgium and Brazil.
His music has also reached audiences beyond the dancefloor through appearances in major gaming titles including Rocket League and Fortnite. Onstage, Hawkes incorporates improvisation into his performances rather than relying entirely on a fixed set, adding another layer of spontaneity to his approach.
Now, as he continues touring throughout 2026, Hawkes is bringing Now Or Never to audiences across North America, with festival appearances at Shambhala, Bass Canyon, Electric Love and Friendzy Fest.
With Now Or Never, Justin Hawkes turns drum & bass into something larger than a genre exercise. The album is a continuous narrative about passion, identity and the human experience — a record designed not simply to be heard, but to be moved through from its first bar to its final realization.
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