Berlin-based artist Felix Raphael has announced his new album DO YOU, arriving November 28 via [PIAS] Électronique. The project puts mental health at the center of its message, drawing from Raphael’s own experiences as an international musician and professional social worker. The first single, “Creation (no matter how far I go)”, is out today and gives a strong preview of the record’s scope.
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Across sixteen tracks, Raphael leans into themes often left unspoken in electronic music—comparison, pressure to conform, and the weight of success and failure. Yet DO YOU is far from heavy-handed. Instead, it celebrates the value of creativity itself and the joy of sharing it with others.
Music, Mental Health, and Meaning
Felix Raphael has long balanced two lives—touring and performing on one side, working as a social worker on the other. That perspective gives DO YOU a unique depth, bridging personal struggles with broader questions about how we relate to mental health as a community.
The album highlights how self-comparison and external pressure can distort creativity, especially in the music industry. Tracks like “Medication (pull me out the rain)” and “Therapy (leave me on my own)” speak directly to the push and pull between isolation and connection. Others, such as “Compass (how to stay aligned)” and “Resilience (just for a while)”, frame self-care as a process of recalibration rather than perfection.
Raphael isn’t positioning himself as a voice of authority—he’s sharing what he’s lived. That honesty grounds the record in authenticity, cutting through an industry that often avoids vulnerability. The choice to theme an album so openly around mental health feels timely, and the fact that Raphael delivers it through an accessible blend of melodic house, indie folk, and organic instrumentation makes it resonate even further.
“Creation” and the Power of Process
The album’s lead single, “Creation (no matter how far I go)”, sets the tone. Built around contemplative piano lines and Raphael’s steady vocals, the song reflects on distance, homesickness, and the comfort of making art regardless of circumstance. Its progression moves from reflection to release, layering rhythm under his voice until it shifts into something more immediate and uplifting.
Raphael has described “Creation” as a reminder that no matter where we are—geographically, emotionally, or creatively—the act of making remains a constant source of fulfillment. It’s a message that connects with artists but also extends to anyone who uses creative practice as a way to stay grounded.
That ethos carries across DO YOU. Alongside vocals, guitars, piano, and synths, Raphael taught himself the flugelhorn specifically for the album, weaving it into its DNA as a personal marker of growth. His live sets will expand on this approach, where multi-instrumental performance merges with electronic production to create something personal and physical at once.
The result is an album that acknowledges the challenges of mental health without reducing them to slogans. DO YOU frames creativity as a practical, hopeful act—an anchor that can carry us through comparison, setbacks, and uncertainty. For Raphael, that message is not abstract but lived, and the record invites listeners to share in that reality.
DO YOU is out November 28 on [PIAS] Électronique. The first single “Creation (no matter how far I go)” is available now.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
