The coherent optical manipulation of solids is emerging as a promising way to engineer novel quantum states of matter 1-5 . The strong time-periodic potential of intense laser light can be used to generate hybrid photon-electron states. Interaction of light with Bloch states leads to Floquet-Bloch states, which are essential in realizing new photo-induced quantum phases [6][7][8] . Similarly, dressing of free-electron states near the surface of a solid generates Volkov states, which are used to study nonlinear optics in atoms and semiconductors 9 . The interaction of these two dynamic states with each other remains an open experimental problem. Here we use time-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (Tr-ARPES) to selectively study the transition between these two states on the surface of the topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 . We find that the coupling between the two strongly depends on the electron momentum, providing a route to enhance or inhibit it. Moreover, by controlling the light polarization we can negate Volkov states to generate pure Floquet-Bloch states. This work establishes a systematic path for the coherent manipulation of solids via light-matter interaction.The manipulation of solids using ultrafast optical pulses has opened up a new paradigm in condensed matter physics by allowing the study of emergent physical properties that are otherwise inaccessible in equilibrium 1,2,10 . An important example is provided by the Floquet-Bloch states 11 , which emerge in solids owing to a coherent interaction between Bloch states inside the solid and a periodic driving potential. This is a consequence of the Floquet theorem 12 , which states that a Hamiltonian periodic in time with period T has eigenstates that are evenly spaced by the drive energy (2π/T ). Floquet-Bloch states have generated a lot of interest recently both for realizing exotic states of matter such as a Floquet Chern insulator 7 , as well as understanding non-equilibrium periodic thermodynamics 13,14 . Experimental observation of these states requires the measurement of the transient electronic band structure of a crystal as it is perturbed by light. As has recently been demonstrated 15 in the topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 , time-and angleresolved photoemission spectroscopy (Tr-ARPES) is a key tool that can achieve this. Characteristic signatures of Floquet-Bloch states in the Tr-ARPES spectra include replicas of the original band structure that are separated by the driving photon energy 15 .In addition to Floquet-Bloch states, light can also generate other coherent phenomena in solids [16][17][18] . In particular, it can dress freeelectron states near the surface of a solid (Fig. 1a), as the surface can provide the momentum conservation necessary for a photon to interact with a free electron. This dressing was first observed in time-resolved photoemission experiments 17 and has subsequently been referred to as laser-assisted photoemission (LAPE). LAPE is typically understood [19][20][21] by invoking the Volkov solution, which is an e...