American Drum & Bass artist Justin Hawkes has officially unveiled his upcoming second studio album Now or Never, alongside the release of its latest single “Stomp,” marking a bold new chapter for the producer, composer, and vocalist. Arriving four years after his 2022 debut Existential, the project positions Hawkes as one of the most conceptually ambitious voices reshaping modern Drum & Bass.
Built as a continuous, mixed body of work, Now or Never is described as “Experiential Drum & Bass,” a twelve-part narrative designed as interconnected chapters rather than standalone tracks. Each piece is crafted with deliberate intention, weaving cinematic storytelling, layered symbolism, and emotional nuance into a unified listening experience that challenges both genre conventions and listener expectations.
With “Stomp,” Hawkes sets the tone for the album’s conceptual arc. The track channels a primal rhythmic energy, bridging ancestral percussive instinct with contemporary Drum & Bass structure. Rather than functioning as a traditional single, it serves as a thematic entry point into the record’s larger philosophical framework—one rooted in movement, memory, and instinctive connection to rhythm.
To match the scale of the project, Hawkes is also rethinking how the album is released and consumed. Now or Never will first arrive exclusively on Bandcamp on July 31 via a Pay-What-You-Want model, before its wider DSP release on August 14. The dual-phase rollout reflects a deliberate emphasis on accessibility and trust, inviting listeners to engage with the music directly before it enters conventional commercial distribution.
The album also marks the launch of Hawkes’ new independent imprint, Drumcaste Collective, envisioned as both a home for his own work and a platform for emerging Drum & Bass artists. The label will operate as a generative-AI-free space, prioritizing human creativity, artist-driven storytelling, and original composition at a time when questions around authorship and artificial intelligence are increasingly central to music culture.
Speaking about the project, Hawkes frames Stomp as an exploration of instinct and identity within rhythm itself. “Dance music as a medium for expression goes back to the oldest times and places in the world,” he explains. “Now, being intentionally human in the age of AI feels like an act of resistance. We don’t get the messy, empowering complexity of life delivered into music by letting go of the creative reins.”
He continues, “Stomp connects the ancestral rhythmic instinct with a modern and bouncy Drum & Bass mantle. It’s a memory within the present. I wanted every piece of this next album to feel like discovering myself again in a new light.”
Hawkes’ evolution has been shaped by more than a decade of work within Drum & Bass, beginning under his earlier alias Flite before transitioning to his current identity in 2020. Since then, he has established a distinct voice within the genre, blending melodic intensity with precision-engineered club energy. His breakthrough album Existential expanded that vision further, while his broader catalog has surpassed 100 million streams globally.
Over the years, his music has earned support from a wide range of artists across electronic music, including Sub Focus, Andy C, Wilkinson, RL Grime, Knife Party, Pendulum, Porter Robinson, and Black Tiger Sex Machine. His work has also reached audiences through major gaming platforms such as Rocket League and Fortnite, further extending his cultural footprint beyond traditional dance music spaces.
With performances spanning over 14 countries and appearances at major festivals including Electric Daisy Carnival and Tomorrowland, Hawkes has built a reputation for dynamic, improvisational live sets that emphasize spontaneity over repetition.
As Now or Never approaches, the project signals a defining moment in his artistic trajectory—one that merges conceptual ambition, technological awareness, and genre evolution into a singular, forward-facing statement for Drum & Bass in 2026.
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