Chicago-born John Summit, who once worked as an accountant, is set to release his sophomore album CTRL ESCAPE on April 15, 2026. The date, famously known as Tax Day, serves as a symbolic milestone, transforming a day of bureaucratic stress into a celebration of Summit’s journey from office life to the global stage.
CTRL ESCAPE Explores the Tension Between Work and Liberation
CTRL ESCAPE promises to be a deeply personal album, reflecting Summit’s own experiences balancing corporate monotony with the freedom and intensity of life on the dancefloor. The record examines this friction through autobiographical storytelling, capturing the journey from routine to release.
The album’s first single, LIGHTS GO OUT, released in late January, illustrates this theme vividly. The music video portrays office workers stuck in fluorescent-lit monotony, eventually finding liberation through movement and music—a visual metaphor for the album’s central narrative.
A Steady Rollout of Singles
Summit plans to release new singles every other Wednesday leading up to the full album release on April 15. Fans can expect collaborations with artists like Feid and Julia Wolf, based on teasers shared across Summit’s social media channels. While the official tracklist has not yet been revealed, anticipation continues to build around what promises to be a milestone release.
Following Up Comfort in Chaos
CTRL ESCAPE follows Summit’s debut album Comfort in Chaos, which produced some of his most recognizable hits, including the HAYLA-assisted Where You Are and Shiver. Since then, Summit has maintained a strong global presence with chart-topping singles like crystallized and an official remix of Britney Spears’ I Wanna Go.
The new album reflects both his growth as an artist and the consistent creative vision that has propelled him from a local Chicago DJ to an international music figure.
Release Details
CTRL ESCAPE will be released via Darkroom Records and Summit’s own imprint, Experts Only. Fans can pre-save the album ahead of its April 15 release to ensure they don’t miss any of the singles leading up to the full drop.
With a carefully planned rollout and the promise of personal storytelling, CTRL ESCAPE marks an important next step in John Summit’s career. The album is set to showcase the contrast between routine and release, work and play, and office life versus the dancefloor.