It’s a joy to welcome Miss Monique to the cover of our flagship edition this month. It may have initially appeared that the Ukrainian-born Lisbon resident has come out of nowhere since the pandemic, but she’s been grafting for at least a decade or so — honing her craft. MiMo brings a welcome dose of fresh positivity to the international scene, and her progressive house sound — kinda melodic techno rubbing up against deep trance, with a touch of extra bass oomph — chimes perfectly with the 2024 Return Of Prog. Genres can come in cycles, and this summer prog and garage are both particularly shining brightly.
At IMS in Ibiza the other week, when Miss Monique was playing at Dalt Vila, I remarked to prog god Sasha that Miss Monique — who was playing before him — sounded quite a bit like him. “She does!” he replied, giving her a seal of approval. Her story is expertly told this issue by Anna Wall, and the fantastic photos come courtesy of scene stalwart Dan Reid, who shot his 50th UK cover for us — finally! — this issue.
Elsewhere, we’ve got a scene report from Mexico City (p84), a piece on neon futurist Steve Aoki (p92), a report from Movement in Detroit (p118), and a helluva lot more. Hope you enjoy.
Lastly, it’s general election time in the UK. Choose wisely. #JustVote
Carl Loben
Editor