Felix Raphael unveils second LP single ‘Compass (how to stay aligned)’ 

Full studio album ‘DO YOU’ out November 28^th on [PIAS] Électronique

Exploring mental health challenges and the rewards of the creative life

Get ‘Compass’ HERE / Visualiser HERE / Save album HERE

Berlin live artist/producer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Felix Raphael drops his forthcoming album’s second single, ‘Compass (how to stay aligned)’, out now on [PIAS] Électronique, heralding the November 28th release of the full themed LP ‘DO YOU’. 

The LP’s theme is mental health, exploring Raphael’s own mental health challenges as a successful international electronic music artist and also his professional social work experience, aiming to help others both inside and outside the music industry by delving into these universally felt experiences. Split into four phases, ‘DO YOU’ charts the peaks and nadirs of life as a touring musician, cycling through anxiety and struggle, mood swings, bliss, and finally equanimity.

Raphael achieves this through a blend of melodic and organic house with indie folk elements, purpose-designed for live performance as he plays guitar, piano, synth and saxophone and deploys his rich, warm vocal gifts. 

While the LP will highlight issues such as comparison with others, dealing with both successes and failures, industry genre-conforming pressure and the courage needed to be open about mental health problems, it is also ultimately positive, in celebrating the true joy of creativity and sharing it with others. 

‘Compass (how to stay aligned)’: Raphael’s warm, resonant vocal, piano and emotional synth chords build to a crescendo as more percussion, a slow portentous beat, high choral notes and swooping synths join in, like a breakdown in reverse, until the track comes full circle like a compass, as he moves from ‘standing in the middle’ of ‘many roads I could follow’ to end in a kind of peace. 

“ ’Compass (how to stay aligned)’ maps both the rush and the bliss of many roads visible to take”, Felix says. “It’s about the moments when the mind pulls in every direction at the same time: north and south but still constantly searching for the balanced center. A thousand ideas at once, my constant challenge to turn them into something that can translate to others. The record spins through opposing feelings and lands on a simple goal: to keep the needle steady enough to move forward.”

The main message of ‘DO YOU’the album is comparing ourselves less with others, embracing our weaknesses, and actively caring for our mental health— through therapy, open communication, and self-acceptance. There is currently a great need for such themes in art, and in the case of Felix Raphael, they are also deeply pleasurable to hear. 

Felix Raphael ‘Compass (how to stay aligned)’ is out now, get it HERE / Visualiser HERE. The full length album ‘DO YOU’will be released on November 28^th, with more singles to come in between, all on [PIAS] Électronique. Pre-save LP HERE. 

‘DO YOU’ Album Tracklist:

1. Where I Begin
2. Doubts (when you’re all around)
3. Medication (pull me out the rain)
4. Therapy (leave me on my own)
5. Compass (how to stay aligned)
6. North
7. South
8. Centered
9. Sincerity (a piece right of your soul)
10. Creation (no matter how far I go)
11. Exploration (step out your comfort zone)
12. Resilience (just for a while)
13. 911’s (to feel safe in place)
14. Patience (every step feels right in time)
15. Zuhause
16. DO YOU

Connect with Felix Raphael on Instagram | Spotify | Soundcloud