Cade Hoppe Releases Beautiful and Raw New Album ‘Safer at a Distance’
Cade Hoppe didn’t exactly take the conventional route into the music industry. Before establishing himself as an emerging indie-pop artist, the LA-based singer, songwriter, and producer was studying finance and playing college basketball at New York University, balancing academics and athletics while developing a growing interest in songwriting and production. When the pandemic brought everyday life to a standstill, Hoppe decided to take a chance on music full-time, funding his earliest releases through service industry jobs while navigating the uncertainty of building an independent career. After seven years in New York City, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he’s continued refining his own sound while expanding his work behind the scenes as a producer for other artists. That unconventional journey has become an important part of his creative identity, informing his interest in ambition, self-worth, personal expectations, and the uncomfortable realization that chasing a dream rarely goes according to plan.
Since making his debut in 2021, Hoppe has steadily built a reputation for pairing introspective songwriting with infectious indie-pop melodies and expansive production, earning support from tastemakers including Notion, Ones To Watch, and EARMILK. His fourth project, Safer at a Distance, follows Tell Me How I’m Worth It (2021), Everything That’s Wrong With You (2022), and Just Look At The Moon (2023), marking another step in his evolution as both an artist and producer. Across his growing catalog, Hoppe has become increasingly interested in the contradictions of growing older, pursuing ambitions, and questioning whether the future will ever look quite the way he imagined.
“This is an existential road trip album that’s neither about the departure nor the arrival, When you’re in the middle of nowhere, you’re never anywhere but where you are
LA-based singer, songwriter, and producer Cade Hoppe returns with his new 11-track album, Safer at a Distance, a deeply introspective collection that explores the complicated relationship between ambition, reality, and the stories we tell ourselves to keep moving forward. Blending infectious indie-pop hooks with expansive production and emotionally candid songwriting, Hoppe examines the uncomfortable space between chasing a dream and confronting what that pursuit actually looks like. Featuring previously released singles “Still Turn This Around,” “Lake Michigan,” “Crashland,” and “Flatearther,” the record moves between acceptance and denial, questioning how easily our perceptions can be distorted by what we want to believe. Whether he’s convincing himself that Lake Michigan is the Pacific Ocean or examining the lengths people go to defend increasingly irrational beliefs, Hoppe approaches these contradictions with humor, vulnerability, and a healthy dose of self-awareness. On the album’s focus track, “Halfway Out My Mind,” he tackles the loss of innocence, the pressure of growing older, and the nagging feeling that everyone else has somehow figured things out while he’s still trying to make sense of it all.
The album takes its name from the opening lines of “Make Me King,” where Hoppe reflects on how distance can make relationships, ambitions, and imagined futures appear considerably simpler than they actually are. That tension runs throughout Safer at a Distance, particularly as he examines his evolving relationship with music and the uncertainty that comes with dedicating years of his life to a creative pursuit without any guarantee of where it might lead. On “End of the Tunnel,” he compares his journey to a partially loaded map with a small marker showing his current location, capturing the frustration of knowing exactly where you stand without having the slightest idea where you’re headed. Rather than wrapping these anxieties in easy optimism or pretending there’s some grand revelation waiting around the corner, Hoppe embraces the messiness of the experience. Safer at a Distance is ultimately a record about questioning your own expectations, making peace with uncertainty, and recognizing that sometimes the most meaningful part of chasing a dream is everything that happens before you get there.
Make sure you check out Safer at a Distance on Spotify below and over on your favorite streaming platform!
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Who am I? Just some guy who decided to start writing on the Internet years ago and now operates his own brand and site. Owner/Operator of Modern Neon Media, I make all kinds of niche content to suit my interests at the time. DIY Enthusiast, Brewmaster extraordinaire, and avid freak for geek culture. Follow on my socials for a more “on” version of me.
