Spring '26

On Tuesday 24 March, Melissa Giardina, Seppe Decubber and Jan Dertaelen will join presenter Ruth Joos. Together, they will discuss three books, carefully selected by our editorial team.

As a preview reader, we welcome Astrid Haerens, following the release of her new novel 'Erosion' in April.

Ready for a sharp dive into the future? During De Arena on Tuesday 10 March, we will take a critical look at the rise of artificial intelligence.

While the technological possibilities seem limitless, in this edition we will focus on the downsides: should the government and the education sector urgently put the brakes on, or are strict rules actually holding us back? We will be talking to leading speakers such as Petra De Sutter, rector of Ghent University, professor at the Data Analytics Lab Andres Algaba, author/entrepreneur/columnist/lecturer Yasmien Naciri, co-founder of cyber security company Aikido Security Roeland Delrue to expose the pitfalls of AI and Michelle Haas, researcher in international politics, affiliated with the University of Ghent and Egmont Institute, with a specialization in European defense policy.

Expect a fascinating, cutting-edge debate. Join us in thinking about the ethics of tomorrow.

On Tuesday 24 February, Melissa Giardina, Raf Njotea and Marijke Pinoy will join presenter Ruth Joos. Together, they will discuss three books, carefully selected by our editorial team.

In recent years, there has been an undeniable resurgence of positive interest in witches and witchcraft. Armed with historical knowledge and advancing insights, we are gaining a better understanding of who these people were – mostly, but not exclusively, women – who were accused of witchcraft, and what injustices were done to them.

This time, the advance reader is Uschi Cop, whose debut novel 'Dodeman' will be published in March. Genre-transcending punk band Kaat Van Stralen provide a musical interlude.

Are our prisons a necessary evil, or a failing system? The debate about the sense and nonsense of prison sentences is more relevant than ever. With overcrowded cells, scarce alternatives, and ongoing discussions about human rights violations in Belgium, it is time for a thorough confrontation.

What role do prison sentences really play in ouèr society? How long is 'long enough'? And what radical alternatives can we implement to break the vicious cycle?

Come listen and discuss during De Arena on Tuesday, February 10, with:

• Annelies Verlinden (Minister of the Interior)
• Vincent Van Quickenborne (Chairman of the Municipal Council of Kortrijk and federal representative)
• Fatih Devos (socio-cultural worker, rapper)
• Walter Van Steenbrugge (lawyer, specialised in human rights)
• Joëlle Rozie (professor of criminal law at the Faculty of Law of UAntwerp)

On Tuesday, January 27, Jesse Vandamme, Arno Van Vlierberghe, and Ibe Rossel will join presenter Ruth Joos. Together, they will discuss three books, carefully selected by our editorial team.

Solidarity, taxes, redistribution, and savings: in a country of increasing inequality and economic pressure, our social model is under strain. The real question is: who should make which sacrifice?

On Tuesday, December 2, we will debate this during De Arena with journalist Isolde Van den Eynde, party chairman Raoul Hedebouw (PVDA), criminal lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge, policy expert/opinion maker Marc De Vos, and the alderman of Finance, Urban Planning, Heritage, and Administrative Simplification Christophe Peeters, each with a different viewpoint. A necessary conversation about the future of our wallets and our society.

Lisbeth Imbo will guide the discussion. Brace yourself for a provocative confrontation!

About Rival Consoles

London-based producer Ryan Lee West, better known under the name Rival Consoles, is notable for making synthesisers sound human and atmospheric. Over the course of a critically acclaimed eighteen-year career, his music has diversified from the challenging electronic output of his early EPs, to gradually becoming more conceptual and metamorphic with his albums.

In July 2025 Rival Consoles released his latest studio album ‘Landscape from Memory’ on Erased Tapes, and is presenting it with a brand new unique performance that will take the form of an immersive audio-visual experience in which he will present material from across the last 15 years of his career and beyond. From deep ambient works to his unique version of techno, and traversing the vast spectrum in between, the show will be a long-form narrative of ideas — many heard live for the first time — with visuals co-created and performed live by Sky Ainsbury.

Yello Staelens - aka Yong Yello - was once part of the legendary hip-hop collective Eigen Makelij, with Tourist LeMC, among others, and became the producer of Glints. Meanwhile, we know him as the new crown prince of the Antwerp sound.

His debut album “Marcel & Het Magnetisme Van De Goot” (2021) yielded instant hits like Circles, Luchtkasteel and Waanzin, and brought him to the biggest festival stages in the country: Pukkelpop, Rock Werchter, Lokerse Feesten... All impressed by his unique blend of poetry and punch.

'Ik moet dringend op vakantie' was recently followed by 'We geve ni', a collaboration with LOïS. Two catchy songs with catchy melodies, a summery beat and vintage samba - a promising foretaste of the new album, to be released on 12 September 2025.

About Yong Yello

Yong Yello, alias of Yello Staelens, balances between vulnerability and strength like no other. As a rapper and producer, he wraps heavy themes in catchy melodies, with a style that hovers somewhere between cinescope hip-hop, vintage samba and Flemish melancholy.

After a period of silence, Yello is back with new music. The single 'Ik moet dringend op vakantie' sounds summery, but cuts deep. About stress, insomnia and the pace of a generation on the verge of burnout. With irony, introspection and Latin-inspired melancholy, he gives a first insight into his second album: “Bennie & The Banality Of Our Existence”, to be released in autumn 2025.

After twenty years of dark grandeur with Editors and trips with Smith & Burrows, Tom Smith is returning to the core: voice, guitar, piano, emotion. His first solo track, "Lights of New York City," sounds like a nighttime stroll through memories: melancholic, warm, and wondrous. At De Vooruit, he brings that same feeling live: smaller, but perhaps even larger because of it. 

Don't expect bombast, but expect that recognizable, deep voice that now has the space to breathe. An evening for those who love music with heart, soul, and rough edges.

Sentimental yet brutal, provocative yet kind, Belgian duo schntzl play live electronic music that makes you reevaluate sound itself. Hendrik Lasure (piano, electronica) and Casper Van De Velde (drums, electronica) are key figures in the Belgian jazz music scene, active across numerous projects, yet in schntzl they find their most singular form: hyper-visual, emotional, and uncompromisingly bold.

The new album of schntzl, Fata Morgana (VIERNULVIER records, feb 2026), is confrontational and playful, sentimental and brutal, constantly blurring the line between illusion and reality. On stage, they perform as a fail-safe orchestra of two, orbiting each other in a constant game of leading and following. Whenever balance threatens to tilt too far, they counter with sharp contrasts, reshaping ideas in real time. The result is music that feels like a mirage: playful yet volatile, intimate yet overwhelming.

TLF Trio is an experimental music ensemble consisting of cellist Cæcilie Trier, pianist Jakob Littauer and guitarist MK Velsorf.They released their first album, Sweet Harmony, on the French electronic and experimental label Latency in 2022 and an EP, New Songs & Variations, with new material and reworks by German techno pioneer Moritz von Oswald on Latency in 2023. 2025 saw their sophomore full-length album, Desire, come out via 15 love on September 4.

Since the release of his album “Droomvoeding” at the end of 2023, Brihang has had one high point after another. Sold-out tours, swirling crowds at festivals, arena shows, and gold records: he has had it all, and no one would dare call it undeserved. After a rollercoaster ride that has lasted more than two years, the grand master of the small gesture is seeking the intimacy of theater halls in 2026. A final series of shows will serve as the grand finale to an incredible period, before he retreats into silence once again for a good while. The last one turns off the lights, cut on the set.

His new album, “I Know You're Hurting, Everyone Is Hurting, Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got To Try”, which will be released on 6 March 2026, is no exception. It promises to be a compelling album on which the artist's spoken word poetry holds your hand through grief, euphoria and hope despite everything.

British-Nigerian Joshua Idehen is a spoken word artist and rising star. After contributing to The Comet Is Coming's Mercury Prize-nominated album Channel The Spirits, he formed Calabashed with Alabaster DePlume, a spiritual jazz band named by NME as one of the bands to watch in 2021, and collaborated with Daedelus, the Los Angeles-based maestro of electronic music, on the critically acclaimed mini-LP Holy Water Over Sons. In 2023, he released the solo mixtape “Learn To Swim” in collaboration with producer Ludvig Parment (better known as Saturday, Monday). In November 2024, the EP “Mum Does the Washing” was released. The video clip for the title track has already been viewed more than 390,000 times.

‘Like a snail on a razor blade.’ That’s how a friend of Liesa Van der Aa described her new album Caramel — as softness that wraps itself around sharp edges, but never lets itself be cut. An apt image, because Caramel is Liesa’s most personal work to date.

The “younger, softer sister” of Liesa Van der Aa, her previous album Easy Alice still moves in the same jazzy universe. Although, to name a few references: you hear echoes of Laurie Anderson, this time intertwined with the early classics of James Blake and fragments of Billie Eilish and FKA Twigs. Electronics, contemporary classical, baroque, jazz and hip hop — Caramel wears all these coats at once, as Van der Aa herself likes to describe it, casually layered on top of each other. And on top of that, more than ever before, the masks fall away. ‘I wanted to make a record that feels like you're hearing someone think out loud,’ she says. ‘As if you're sitting on the edge of someone's consciousness, without everything being spoken out loud yet.’

The first seeds of Caramel were born during corona. While the world came to a stop, Liesa and Niels Broos returned to the studio. They improvised on old demos and explored new melodies — together, but often also from a distance. Yet it was only later on, by the wood-burning stove in her parents' house in Grimbergen, that those fragments formed into something new. For there, surrounded by forests and breathing space, a different kind of listening emerged. A form of editing that became almost surgical. ‘Not a single song remained as it was,’ says Liesa. ‘It became an eerily controlled process.’

This is how melodies that return again and again grew. Liesa calls them miniatures — small, enigmatic songs that cannot be pinned down, but linger in the mind. Liesa cut, pasted, played with loops as in hip hop, and so built a universe of sound that navigates between jazz and pop, between melancholy and contemporary freshness. The production was done in close collaboration with Niels Broos, with contributions from actress Sandra Hüller and singer Judith Okon, among others. Influences? From Nina Simone to Laurie Anderson, from Billie Eilish to James Blake — but above all: Liesa's own uncompromising signature.

No one knows how to package Dutch-language pop music in such an exciting and mysterious way as Eefje de Visser. With a new album under her arm, she is coming to prove this once again at De Vooruit.

Eefje de Visser is known for her unmistakable sound and the exciting, intimate atmosphere she creates both on her records and live. With mesmerising choreography, layered harmonies and an enchanting light show, she takes you into her unique universe. Her 2020 album “Bitterzoet” and the accompanying concerts earned her just about every music award in the Netherlands and Belgium in two years' time. On 10 October, “Vlijmscherp” will be released, forming a diptych with “Heimwee” (2024). Electronic drums and wrenching harmonies merge on an album full of drive, menace and hope.

‘Heimwee’ and ‘Vlijmscherp’, to be released as a double album, form a magical realist whole in which Eefje de Visser is constantly searching, from darkness to light, from alienation to stability, and from fragility to strength. The final tour of the double album will bring her to Ghent next year, where she has made her home for many years. Not to be missed, because Eefje de Visser's true power is revealed live.

About Alpha Maid

Beginning from a sense of frustration at the predictable and boring narratives and systems that we live under, and the feeling that such rules were the rules of the universe, Alpha Maid formed an interest in particle physics.

“We only know 4% of the universe, there is hope in that and the unknown 96%. I found excitement and wonder in that. The theories I was reading about relied more on the conditions of the present moment, and it made the idea of living in the moment feel more accessible. It started to be possible to see present time from all these different angles, and to have infinite more options to choose where to be next.”

Written across many years and different places, the LP documents a journey and the people Alpha Maid met while moving around, collating moments of the present. Her guitar remains a constant amongst an array of sonic influences throughout: from dub which honours her Jamaican heritage and the Windrush Generation, to the twinges of an emo love song in On Smoke.

“Is this a queue” revels in the magic of that which we cannot see and coherently understand, and the narratives that have been shrunk down to fit. Remembering, continuing, forgetting, paying attention, building, navigating, contributing, time.

For fans of claire rousay, Chino Amobi, Olan Monk, OKO DJ and Susu Laroche

Although ‘Saudade’ is usually translated as an emotional mix of loss, lack and love, the concept is approached by BJO and Naima Joris with a vibrant musical energy. 

With ‘Saudade’, Brussels Jazz Orchestra and Naima Joris seek the beauty of melancholy where an upbeat song is inevitably infused with the deep blues of Naima's voice. Together with the balanced power and musical ingenuity of Brussels Jazz Orchestra, the singer undertakes an atmospheric journey through the repertoire of Amália Rodrigues, Leonard Bernstein, Cesária Évora, Abbey Lincoln and Stromae, among others. 

Double bill with Klinck Trio and dudal & de Roover: from lovely soundscapes with a bite to mesmerizing tape loops. Klinck Trio creates slowly unfolding soundscapes where melody and silence are interwoven, resulting in a delicate, childlike space of intimacy and discovery. Dudal & de Roover brings tape loops that patiently and organically move toward grainy ambient.

About dudal & de Roover
The Belgian musicians Pieter Dudal and Adriaan de Roover explore the tactile, ritualized art of tape loops, where every gesture — cutting, shifting and layering tape — shapes the evolving sound. Their practice has developed through live performances at Meakusma Festival and residencies at arts centers such as VIERNULVIER, Ancienne Belgique and Volta, combining acoustic and electronic sources into immersive soundscapes that unfold with both careful craftsmanship and organic growth.
Based in Brussels, Adriaan de Roover has been carving a unique path in experimental electronic music for over a decade, with releases on labels such as [PIAS], Dauw, Consouling and Fog Mountain. He is an experienced collaborator, installation artist and commissioned composer — recently creating music for a fashion exhibition by Milk of Lime (DE) and a 4DSOUND project co-produced by STUK Leuven and MONOM. His latest album, Other Rooms (Dauw), was praised by Bandcamp, HHV and The Vinyl Factory.
Dudal is the moniker of Pieter Dudal, a Ghent-based sound artist and musician. He is the founder and curator of the labels Dauw and blickwinkel. His work intertwines lo-fi melodies with slowly evolving textures, resulting in delicate electroacoustic compositions. In 2021, he released his debut album Can You Say It Again, and he currently hosts a monthly show on Kiosk Radio in Brussels.

Where Moderat is known for dark electronic productions, Apparat shows Ring’s more intimate and melancholic side.

Apparat will be touring Europe with ‘A Hum Of Maybe’, which will be released in early 2026. In addition to his solo work, Ring is best known as a member of Moderat (with Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary from Modeselektor), the trio that played three sold-out shows at Ancienne Belgique in 2022 and also performed at Rock Werchter.

Get ready for an unpredictable night out in our renewed BALZAAL with a trippy line-up full of emotion, experimentation and beats that hit as hard as they comfort. Catnapp blends drum and bass, jungle and hyperpop into something raw and compelling. Zonmai blurs the boundaries between rap and chanson with her autotune and French melancholy. Rostgoed throws genres overboard and lets queer energy pulsate through the speakers in sounds between (electro) pop and nightcore.

Deeply rooted in Buenos Aires bass music scene, Argentinian native Ampi Battaglia Lopez started performing as Catnapp in 2010, fusing elements of drum and bass, jungle, dancehall and hyper pop, all filtered through a unique artistic lens of her own.

Later on, she further evolved artistically, always with the main goal of creating music that is fun, interesting and genuine all at the same time. Embracing Berlin's thriving creative energy, this period also saw the launch of her label, Napp Records, initially as a platform for her own releases and later as an incubator for other artists she felt inspired by. 

In 2018, Rihanna selected her tracks “Flame Bitch", “YPMH" and “Backwere” for a runway show at New York's Fashion Week and a year later, Catnapp starred in the Emmy award winning Netflix series Unorthodox, which also features two of her songs, further amplifying her global reach. Since then Catnapp has fully come into her own. Her electrifying live performances have been featured at major European festivals and are a testament to her artistic vision, masterfully juxtaposing soaring melodies with harsh beats, delicate vocals with powerful rap verses, and playful charm with edgy, sometimes uncomfortable, intensity.

For nearly 30 years, Earth's Dylan Carlson, has inhabited a uniquely elastic role in rock, an exponent of experimental drone-based guitar music and a signature practitioner of the detuned riff. The only constant in this band's aesthetic is change, contrary to their recorded music that relies on heavy yet hypnotic forms of repetition.

Earth are an American rock band founded in Olympia, Washington and led by the guitarist Dylan Carlson. Initially active between 1989 and 1997, their early work is characterized by heavy guitar distortion, drones, and lengthy, minimalist song structures; their 1993 debut album is recognized as a pioneering work of the drone metal genre.

Carlson often jokes he had “one good idea” and ran with it. In reality, Carlson has had loads of great ideas. This is apparent in Earth’s continuing discography. While their style remains anchored in lingering repetition, every Earth record is different to the last.

When Earth returned in the 2000s, with Adrienne Davies on drums, Carlson resisted the temptation to rehash the sound on which Sunn O))) and others had since capitalized. In 2019 Earth pared back down to the core duo of Carlson and Davies, with the guitarist limiting his layers of effects in order to hone a more “sensual” style.

Two internationally renowned selectors take turns spinning idiosyncratic deep cuts, iconic records and forgotten treasures. All night long. 

Lefto Early Bird has built up a global fanbase thanks to his radio shows and DJ sets. With broadcasts on Kiosk Radio, The Lot Radio and the former Worldwide FM from his home base in Brussels, as well as various programmes on NTS, he has become an international landmark of good taste, whether it's jazz, electronica, techno, house or hip hop. As a special guest on various live shows, he is praised for his selections that are ahead of their time and his dedication to the talents that will shape the future.

Amsterdam-born and London-based DJ Jyoty is considered by many to be a pioneer in her own right. She has become a trailblazer in dance music with international impact. From her early years on the radio to headlining festivals and hosting sold-out venues around the world, Jyoty's inimitable talent as a DJ, music selector, curator and interviewer has earned her a global following.

Milow is going all the way for his eighth album, “Boy Made Out of Stars”. Not only is the Leuven-grown singer-songwriter unleashing 15 new songs on the world, he is simultaneously launching 15 music videos and his own magazine that tells the story behind the record. ‘That way I want to underline how hard I believe in these songs,’ he says.

Milow divides his time between Europe and California, and this duality echoes the album's themes, giving fans a visual journey that reflects his transatlantic lifestyle.

Club Laat shines a light on several Ghent collectives and nightlife pillars from the past and present, reminding the people of Ghent of the city's rich musical history and future. Together, we take a trip down memory lane towards the future with Grid, Radio Ruit, Tuin van Heden, Supergay, Dakdak, Funke, Nooit Meer Naar Huis and Burenhinder.

Club Laat, the event(s series), are organised without a template by Club Laat, a group of people with different roles and positions within Ghent's nightlife scene. On 20 December, Club Laat is inviting eight collectives/organisations that (have helped) shape Ghent's nights. A party for and by the Ghent nightlife scene.

Supergay’s Timmerman goes b2b with Koodoo, representing Tuin van Heden; gguusstt of Grid goes b2b with Radio Ruit’s Donckr; Ghosttdog of Dakdak goes b2b with Funke regular Erykah, and Nooit Meer Naar Huis’s Pala10 closes the night in a b2b with Instar from collective Burenhinder.

Discover more about the DJs, collectives and organisations below.

MEROL, the Dutch electropop icon brings her irresistible mix of sharp lyrics, empowering and danceable beats to De Vooruit.

After passing through Rock Werchter, Summerlove, Cactusfestival, Suikerrock and Dranouter, the party is far from over. On Thursday 18 and Friday 19 December 2025, the Dutch pop sensation will descend on Ghent for a show that guarantees glitz, self-mockery and banging energy.

Since her breakthrough in 2018 with “Lekker Met De Meiden”, MEROL - aka Merel Baldé - has been sweeping through the pop landscape like a comet. With cheeky, headstrong and direct Dutch-language electro pop, she flawlessly captures the zeitgeist. She sings about sex, feminism and everything around it, wrapped in catchy synthpop that won't let you go.

On the eve of the release of their Clubslut EP, Antwerp duo Promis3 takes over Club Wintercircus with a unique rave celebrating all self-identifying club sluts. They’re inviting like-minded artists from the international club scene to join them in a spectacular setting that makes full use of the venue’s immersive sound system and 360° video capabilities.

Glossed lips, dilated pupils, heels too high to walk in but always hungry for a night out. Promis3’s new EP ‘Clubslut’ celebrates those that breathe nu-rave, and you are invited for a unique show with a live performance by the duo and (live) sets by kindred spirits from the international clubbing scene with Zorza (CA), Maniken05 (LV), UVCORE (IT) & LOLALITA (BE). 

On 5 December 2025, Promis3 resurrects an altar for all self-identified club sluts, a pulsing temple of flesh and frequency, sweat and circuitry.  You don’t want to miss this. 

The six-strong NAFT brings explosive techhouse with brass instruments. Tested and approved on hundreds of stages, they mine new ground in electro-acoustic performances. Their effervescent energy, uncompromising rhythms and pure rave spirit create an impressive live experience that can rival any DJ set - a roaring ride that resonates long after.

Add support act Pomrad to that and you are completely assured of fuel for a delicious evening of homegrown dance music. Pomrad's latest album ‘Silver Blue’ was released in March, and is a deliciously glittering fever dream full of kitsch on which the producer reveals himself to be the sweet-voiced love child of Prince and Whitney Houston. 

Mattias De Craene and Alex Zhang Hungtai as a new duo at Club Wintercircus? An event of ambient music with a musical mystery guest to open the evening.

With 'Her Beautiful Eyes,' Mattias De Craene is opening a new chapter for the first time. His recognizable sound gives way to a more intimate, introspective form, and in this new project, it ventures more into the realm of the psycho-spiritual world, where improvisation, experimentation, and text allow our subconscious to meet.

About the artists

Mattias De Craene is a Belgian saxophonist, composer, and producer. He likes to take the contemplative, cinematic route. This results in a more experimental, yet cinematic sound that oscillates between minimalism and melancholy. Mattias tells his story in his own language, using his saxophone, tape loops, and an electronic setup. 

Taiwanese-born, Montréal-hailing Alex Zhang Hungtai was born anew after retiring from the Dirty Beaches, and, since then, has dived fully into the role of composer. Tinkering with the saxophone, synthesizers, percussion, and piano, Zhang has embraced the free form, focusing on explorations of improvised music, free jazz, and ritualistic music of liminality. On the stage, Hungtai deepens his research into complex psychoacoustics, turning the audiences into students of sound, mouths agape.

Alex and Mattias met in Helsinki, Finland in 2021 after a concert. Mattias invited Alex for an improvisation session where they continued their dialog. From their own methods, they find each other in their love for electronics and experimentation.