Prior to forming Tinlicker in 2012, Jordi Van Achthoven and Micha Heyboer had both been making dance music for over a decade. Van Achthoven released progressive and hard house as JVA and as part of projects like Essential Groovers and Sidesteppers, while Heyboer was a member of well-regarded drum'n'bass trio Black Sun Empire, as well as their trance offshoots Empirical Labs and Charger. The two Utrecht-based producers started releasing Tinlicker tracks on their own Zero Three Zero imprint, beginning with their fittingly titled 2012 EP It's My First Time Here. Lengthy digital album Remember the Future appeared in 2013, and the duo released three EPs on Feed Me's Sotto Voce label, beginning with 2014's Like No Other.
Following a handful of singles and an EP of Remember the Future remixes in 2016, Tinlicker reached a wider audience in 2017, when Jalapeño was released by Deadmau5's Mau5trap Recordings, and "Soon You'll Be Gone" (sung by frequent collaborator Thomas Oliver) appeared on Above Beyond's Anjunadeep imprint. Additionally, "Because You Move Me" (with Helsloot) was issued by Armada Electronic Elements the same year. The duo continued releasing singles on all three labels in 2018, including "Nothing Without You" (another track featuring Oliver) and "If I Was" (with CUT_). Full-length This Is Not Our Universe came out on Anjunabeats in 2019, including collaborations with Oliver, Helsloot, and Run Rivers, as well as the duo's remix of Alt-J's "Breezeblocks."
A remix album and the Astralwerks-issued Paradise EP appeared in 2020. The duo also released an official remix of Robert Miles' groundbreaking '90s trance hit "Children." The EP Lost Gravity was released in 2021, in addition to singles like "Run Away" (with Ben Böhmer and Felix Raphael) and "Hypnotised" (with Dosem). Full-length In Another Lifetime arrived on Anjunadeep in 2022, with guest vocalists including Roos Jonker and Nathan Nicholson. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi