Indie-pop artist Cade Hoppe returns with his new single, “Lake Michigan.” Accompanied by an official music video, the track is driven by warm grooves, shimmering melodies, and a sense of wide-open possibility as Hoppe reflects on expectations, ambition, and the beauty of accepting life’s unexpected detours.
“It’s a story about driving from the East Coast to the West Coast, hoping to make it to the Pacific Ocean,” Hoppe shares. “But life never goes as planned, and sometimes you’ve got to make peace with only ever making it to Lake Michigan—after all, they basically look the same.”
Following the release of “Still Turn This Around,” “Lake Michigan” offers another preview of Hoppe’s forthcoming album, Safer at a Distance. The project explores Hoppe’s evolving relationship with music, ambition, and the emotional toll of holding tightly to an uncertain future. Equal parts existential spiral and self-reflection, the album captures an artist searching for meaning while still in the middle of the process.
Hoppe’s path into music was anything but conventional. While studying finance and playing college basketball at New York University, he found himself increasingly drawn toward songwriting and production. When the pandemic hit, he made the decision to pursue music full-time, funding his earliest releases through service industry jobs while developing his voice as both an artist and producer. After spending seven years in New York City, Hoppe recently relocated to Los Angeles, where he continues expanding his emotionally charged sound while increasingly branching out as a producer for other artists.
Hoppe first emerged in 2021 with his debut EP, Tell Me How It’s Worth It, introducing a cinematic and emotionally candid songwriting style that would quickly become his signature. He continued to build on that foundation with the release of Everything That’s Wrong with You in 2022 and Just Look At The Moon in 2023. Along the way, his music has earned support from tastemakers including Notion, Ones To Watch, and EARMILK.