Today German synth-duo Felsmann + Tiley (Dominik Felsmann and Patrick Tiley) release their long-awaited new album Protomensch, out now via Mute. Alongside the album’s arrival, the duo share “Always You” (ft. Woodes), a luminous and emotionally-resonant track that reflects on time, loss, and the act of choosing to fully inhabit the life that is still before us.
Listen to “Always You” Ft. Woodes HERE.
Purchase or stream Protomensch HERE.
“Always You” Ft. Woodes follows the previous release of celebrated album tracks “God Is Lonelier” “Reset,” “OPIOID,” “Warnung,” “Warum”, “Open Fields (Ft. The Kite String Tangle)” and “Gabriel, which saw support and praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, KEXP, KCRW, Brooklyn Vegan, Flood Magazine and more.
The record marks a major step forward for the pair, refining their signature blend of emotionally charged electronic music and vocal-led songwriting. Built around a core of synthwave, trance, and introspective yet cataclysmic impending doom for mankind, Protomensch balances club-focused intensity with melodic sensitivity. Channeled through pulsing rhythms, expansive synth textures, and detailed sound design that form the foundation of the album, the carefully chosen vocal performances bring warmth, tension, and narrative depth to the music.
About Felsmann + Tiley
How long can an artist with instantly recognizable sound stay anonymous? For years, apparently. Take Felsmann + Tiley’s reinterpretation of M83’s “Solitude,” a track that has over 200 million streams to date. Very few of those listeners know the story of evolution behind the German producer-duo’s drumless synthwave melding Cliff Martinez-style maximum emotional impact with Nils Frahm’s neoclassical minimalism. Nor are they familiar with their body of work that has reached wider audiences after featuring on BAFTA-winning crime series “Top Boy” and Acne Studios fashion shows. Slated for release in February 2026, their upcoming album Protomensch is an audiovisual statement on the absurdity of modern existence.
Having met by happenstance in 2003 on a German music production forum called MyOwnMusic.de, Felsmann + Tiley soon discovered they shared a lot more than their hometown of Stuttgart. “We were attracted to the depth and melancholy of trance pads and breakdowns that always had a certain darkness to them.” Their 12-inch Ghosts under an alias Kamui was followed by a string of blistering belters by five other aliases released on different labels, all linked by thick and heavy club sound. “And then from 2006 onwards we also started touring and doing DJ gigs all around the world.”Where the visually-heightened sound reached wider audiences were sync placements for the reinterpretations of the songs by high-calibre artists: “The Most Beautiful Boy” by The Irrepressibles, the lead track on teen drama “Young Royals 2” and “Solitude” by M83 appeared on the gritty British crime series “Top Boy,” two tracks later released on Mute Records and Deutsche Grammophon that since then have racked up over 200 million streams.
Felsmann + Tiley’s passion for putting their very own stamp on vocal driven tracks is evident on the standout moments of their upcoming concept album Protomensch (Engl. “proto-human”), where the darkest shades of shimmering synthwave, pounding trance and introspective IDM are lit up with synth-pop songs by guest vocalists including London-based alternative outfit Pet Deaths, Australian solo-artists The Kite String Tangle, Woodes and Laius.
This juxtaposition between sentient beings and machines permeates the whole album, right from the Felsmann + Tiley manifesto introducing us to the highly-intelligent yet irrevocably-shortsighted and downright tragic character of Protomensch, to the cover artwork featuring a turtleneck wearing chimpanzee, futuristic music videos and stark social media aesthetics, to seated, next-level live-shows involving collaboration with dozens of visual artists.
More to the point, the release of Protomensch marks the moment their full artistic vision – as they envisaged back in 2017 – will be brought to fruition for the first time. However, at the same time it also marks the moment of realization for Felsmann + Tiley. As the Stoic philosopher Seneca put it, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”
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