Fantomacs Releases A New Single
Fantomacs returns with a new single that serves as a sort of warm-toned and inviting rework of a track released in 2021 by Rules.
This reimagining of the track does stay true to the original in many ways, but also branches out in all these wonderfully different directions, giving it such a unique and still somewhat familiar tonality.
One of the things that really brings this song to life is the synthesizers. The synth work across this track is absolutely perfect. The tones of those senses who let the song come through with this semi-bright aesthetic and sound, and the beat drives the song, but it's not overpowering. Instead, the producer and artist uses his abilities to build something that's got an atmosphere that breathes.
The way the track unfolds is brilliant. It definitely has a great way of building, and as the track plays on, you start hearing other production tricks and additional synths and keys that come into play, adding a little bit more depth to the song in different places.
I picked up its energy and played off the sentiment of the song itself, lyrically.
Later in the track, there's even this fuzz tone sort of keyboard solo that almost feels like a guitar solo. I love that effect. The way he's able to take keys and transform them so that it feels almost like a guitar part was awesome.
These are the things that let the song really stand out. It doesn't mind being a little bit experimental. This is because it's very radio friendly to begin with so why not throw in some elements to the song that expand on that a bit.
He's great at sort of breaking the fourth wall a little bit and connecting genres, but still keeping it under that dance pop umbrella.
The vocals are smooth, welcoming, and almost feel like instruments themselves at times, delivering memorable melodies that are super well placed. The lyrical phrasing of this track falls perfectly between the beats, and a lot of the hooks stick in your head.
One of the things I really adore about this track is the simple fact that it has this mellow sort of calmness in its undertone. It has a sort of smoothness to it.
The sentiment of the song, lyrically, is quite a beautiful one, focusing on supporting each other in a relationship. How one person can connect with another person and make them better in a sense. Sometimes, in different kinds of relationships and situations, another person can sort of lift you, and so when that happens, you want to do the same to them.
The track touches on the sentiment very well and most certainly feels relatable in different parts.
This is a song that showcases a producer and an artist who's able to take a song and reinvent it. Someone who's able to dynamically balance that energy so that it has the brightness and the warmth, but also still has the smooth sort of dreaminess beneath all of that.
Nothing about this is over the top, as I mentioned earlier. Everything sort of falls together like puzzle pieces and lets the song have a natural flow.
That sort of subtle contemporary blend does well with the dance overtones and the pop-riddled textures.
Fantomacs did an incredible job of taking something that he loved and making his own, in a sense.
There's plenty of color and flavor to the song, but all the while it still has that almost mellow contemporary feel, and I think this is because of the synths and keys he chose to work with for the song.
Some of the keys and synthesizers reach back to a sort of vintage tone. It sounds almost like a 90s pop track, in a way.
Even this aspect is not pushed too far, as the song feels super current as well. It's almost like a remix that brings different genres together, but does it completely seamlessly.
To do something like that, you have to have experience and really have a vision in your head. I feel like this was something that may not have been fully planned out, but rather hit the artist in a certain way, and when he heard the original song, he was able to hear his version in his head.
The man behind all of this is named Joerg Peters, a producer and keyboardist based in Switzerland.
The music delivered from this project is very diverse at times, but you can hear the many influences when you listen.
He's got a lot of releases under his belt, and each one has a way of showcasing those influences very well.
Each one manages to showcase a little bit of a different side to how he produces and creates.
We decided to interview Joerg to find out more about how this all came to be and what may be coming next.
Check out the song right now and read the interview below. This is not something you'll want to miss.
1. Where did this release come from?
"Carry You" is my dance-driven rework of the 2021 original by Rules (UK), written by Maddy Abela and Richard Samuel Smith. Built around the song’s central promise, “If you carry me, I’ll carry you,” this cover keeps the raw honesty of the lyric while lifting it into a modern, pulse-forward production designed for late-night drives and open dancefloors alike.
2. I am hearing several different approaches! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
Actually, I have many to choose from, I guess. It's Germany's most-famous jazz musician Klaus Doldinger (who unfortunately passed away recently), Candy Dulfer from Netherlands, Mezzoforte from Island, Steely Dan from the U.S., The Evener and St Germain from France, the canadian electro-jazz band Four80East and Elderbrook (EDM) from the UK. Their music is so inspiring and interesting, going straight to my heart triggering deep emotions.
Armed with this inspiration, I embarked on a musical journey, honing my skills as a producer and composer. Drawing influence from electronic music pioneers like Doldinger's Passport, Mezzoforte, Four80East and Steely Dan, I began crafting my own sonic identity, blending elements of ambient & chillout, electronic music, fusion jazz, funk and rock elements into my compositions.
3. How did this all start for you as an artist?
I'm born in the western part of Berlin quite a while ago (1963, laughing) and, after my parents moved to West Germany in 1968 for professional reasons, I grew up in Düsseldorf. This city is famous for it's down town and the yearly 'Jazz Ralley' taking place, where Klaus Doldinger - one of the most famous Jazz musicians in Germany - is the sponsor. Therefore, I got in contact to lots of excellent Jazz musicians and their way to play music, which was quite shaping my way of making music.
The title song 'Fade out lines' of my debut album was composed as early as 1980 when I was playing music in a school band. It remained unpublished until 2019 - can't imagine! The other songs on this album cover a spectrum of my ambient/chillout jazz compositions between 2011 and 2019.
Music was in my life quite early on, my father played keyboards, organ and even accordeon, my mother played classical piano as well. My sister and I got a classical piano education as well. After some years, however, my interests developed to Jazz / Improvisation, training of making music by ear rather than stick to music printed on sheets. Apparently, this interest lies in our family as my nice, Laura Totenhagen, became a professional Jazz singer. During the late 80th, computers became available, and I was very much interested in producing and recording of electronic music - so I'm very much into these topics from the very beginning of their introduction. However, there were big hurdles releasing own music and big labels were dominating the music industry, a contract hard or impossible to get. Nowadays, with all the dramatic changes in the music industry, it became much more accessible and, therefore, I tried a new start in this direction in 2011/2012, when only the iTunes Store was available.
4. Are you doing any live shows or touring in support of the release?
Across the year I'm doing gigs together with my bandmates from my coverband "D!kS" and these gigs are announced via Songkick and through my homepage and social media channels (Instagram, Facebook) and via newsletter / blog „Time Lapse" ahead of time. However, a good amount of my time I'm working in my LakeView Studio in Switzerland or collaborate with other musicians either face-to-face or via the internet, composing, mixing and mastering new music projects and organizing all the promotion work alongside. This keeps me busy already quite a bit.
5. Did you record this at a home set up, or a bigger studio? What kind of synth sounds do you use?
I continously try to push the boundaries of my music, I'm constantly challenging conventions and exploring new sonic frontiers. With my commitment to innovation and my unwavering dedication to my craft, I try to established myself in the realm of electronic music thereby combining different types of genres and styles of music.
All my songs are produced in my LakeView Studio in Switzerland by the Lake Thun, which is fully equipped to support the entire value chain from composing, through recording, mixing, mastering, post-production, publishing and marketing/promotion.
Over the years, a selection of keyboards like Roland’s Fantom-EX and Fantom-0x workstations, NI's Komplete Kontrol S61, Roli's Seaboard (just to mention the most important ones) have made their way into my studio. Alongside, a massive sound & synth library has buiilt-up covering all legendary synths from Roland as physical models inside the Fantom-EX / -0x models - like SH-101, Jupiter-8, Juno-60, SH-2, Juno-106, CR-78, JV-1080/-2080, JD-800, diverse TR-drum machines etc. I especially value the sound of those legendary Roland synths as they integrate seemless into the arrangement next to other instruments, both played live or synthetically.
By the way, the vocal part was sung by myself and modified using the brand-new ReSing plugin from IK Multimedia, morphing my own voice into a female voice.
6. Did you work with anyone on production for this song, or do you do all production yourself?
I like to be independent and productive in all aspects of making and producing music such as:
- composing
- playing different musical instruments, creating beats and sounds
- mixing & mastering of music
- creating coverart
- creating and publishing my own CDs and Vinyls (on-demand via ElasticStage (www.elasticstage.com/
fantomacs) - engage in releasing, promotion & marketing
- cooperate with other musicians on stage or in the studio
I do think this whole package of possibilities to express myself, realizing ideas, putting them into musical pieces, and finally, finding those on music stores and platforms and people wordwide listening to it - this is a truely rewarding part of being a musician.
This particular coversong was entirely produced by myself in my LakeView Studio in Switzerland, the coverart and videos were also produced by myself and redacted by my band mate, Heidi Marlen Grau („HMG“).
7. What's coming up next for you?
My next bigger project is already on its way - an album called „Berlin Nights“, which is a deeply personal hommage to my roots in Berlin-Neukölln. Born and raised in this vibrant district, I’m now trying to transforms its pulse, contrasts, and hidden stories into sound. Across multiple tracks, "Berlin Nights" blends raw urban energy with atmospheric depth, capturing the sleepless rhythms, quiet corners, jazzy elements, and soulful memories of the city that shaped me. The first single is scheduled for release on 27th March, more to follow across the year cumulating in a fully blown album in Q4/2026 (available in digital / CD / Vinyl formats).
8. What would you say people can expect from this song?
The track „Carry You“ balances vulnerability and momentum: a bittersweet storyline of December memories, unfinished goodbyes, and the hope of starting brand new, set against clean, energetic grooves and a soaring hook that stays with you long after the last chorus. It’s a release for anyone who’s tried to pick up the pieces, asked for one more chance, and found strength in meeting someone halfway. A faithful cover in spirit, “Carry You” reframes the emotion in a contemporary dance context, pairing heart-on-sleeve songwriting with a bright, uplifting lift that turns reflection into forward motion.
9. Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music?
To everyone who’s been listening, collecting, sharing, and quietly returning to my tracks - thank you so much! Fantomacs is my way of translating real life into sound: the nights when everything feels possible, the mornings when you’re rebuilding, the in-between moments where memory and momentum overlap, the emotional and soulful times with your partner, family and closest friends.
I’m drawn to contrasts: warm acoustic textures against precise electronic beats, jazz-influenced harmony inside club-ready grooves, cinematic space paired with intimate detail. Each release is built like a small world you can step into - designed for headphones, late drives, focused work, or that one hour when you just need your mind to breathe.
What I want to express is simple: you’re not “consuming content.” You’re joining a story that keeps evolving. If a melody helps you hold on to something, or a rhythm helps you let go - then the music has done its job.
Stay close. There’s more ahead, and it’s made for the way you feel.
