Propaganda - Distant
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"Distant" – A Study in Absence and Unseen Longing
Ralf Dörper and Michael Mertens have built a legacy on precise, minimalist electronic structures, where every note, every silence, is placed with deliberation. Their latest collaboration with Thunder Bae, Distant, is another exercise in restraint—a track that thrives not in excess, but in its ability to let space and atmosphere shape the emotional weight.Thunder Bae’s sensual, dreamlike, ephemeral vocals glide effortlessly over a sonic canvas that is as sparse as it is meticulously crafted. Her voice is both a contrast and a complement to the underlying electronics—floating just above the instrumental, not dominating it, but rather becoming an integral part of the composition’s delicate tension. This is not music that seeks to overwhelm—instead, it builds itself around subtle details, mastered restraint, and an almost fragile interplay of sound and silence. The lyrics of Distant do not merely tell a story; they evoke a state of being that is at once intangible and deeply personal. This is not alienation in the loud, rebellious sense—it is the slow vanishing, the kind where absence becomes more real than presence.
"I feel mysterious today / No one does notice what I say / I feel mysterious today / I leave no traces on my way"
The opening lines set the tone—a quiet self-erasure, an existence slipping into obscurity, not violently, but inevitably. The protagonist doesn’t claim to be misunderstood or ignored; they become unreadable, a ghost in their own reality.
"I want to scream - I have no mouth / I want to run - keep standing still / I want to fight - my limbs give in / I feel the void / It sucks me in"
This is not just about distance from others—this is a dissociation from self. The body refuses to obey; thoughts and actions disconnect, and movement becomes an illusion. There is no fight, no resolution—just a pull into nothingness.
"I'm feeling so distant / Life in a glass cage / I live in a glass cage / No one can touch me / Nothing can reach me"
The imagery of a glass cage is particularly striking. Unlike a traditional cage, which suggests captivity with visible, tangible barriers, the glass cage is deceptive—it offers the illusion of closeness, of connection, yet remains impenetrable. It suggests a form of isolation where the world is near enough to see, but never to truly touch.
"I feel mysterious today / Just like a puppet on display"
And then there is the final admission—the transformation from a person into an object, a spectacle rather than a participant in life. The word "mysterious" is not used in its usual sense—it does not imply intrigue or mystique, but rather a sense of detachment, of being unknowable even to oneself.
Musically, Distant mirrors its lyrical themes by avoiding excess. The melody never overwhelms, the production never forces an emotional response, and yet the track feels deeply affecting. This is music that breathes, that leaves room for interpretation, that thrives on what is not said as much as what is.
It’s easy to overproduce emotion—to throw in soaring synth lines, dramatic crescendos, and force the listener into feeling something. Distant does the opposite. It pulls back, allowing the listener to feel the emptiness and the longing on their own terms.
This is music for the spaces in between, for moments of disconnection that are too abstract to explain but too real to ignore. It doesn’t tell you what to feel—it just exists within that space where feeling becomes difficult to define.
"I feel mysterious today / No one does notice what I say / I feel mysterious today / I leave no traces on my way"
The opening lines set the tone—a quiet self-erasure, an existence slipping into obscurity, not violently, but inevitably. The protagonist doesn’t claim to be misunderstood or ignored; they become unreadable, a ghost in their own reality.
"I want to scream - I have no mouth / I want to run - keep standing still / I want to fight - my limbs give in / I feel the void / It sucks me in"
This is not just about distance from others—this is a dissociation from self. The body refuses to obey; thoughts and actions disconnect, and movement becomes an illusion. There is no fight, no resolution—just a pull into nothingness.
"I'm feeling so distant / Life in a glass cage / I live in a glass cage / No one can touch me / Nothing can reach me"
The imagery of a glass cage is particularly striking. Unlike a traditional cage, which suggests captivity with visible, tangible barriers, the glass cage is deceptive—it offers the illusion of closeness, of connection, yet remains impenetrable. It suggests a form of isolation where the world is near enough to see, but never to truly touch.
"I feel mysterious today / Just like a puppet on display"
And then there is the final admission—the transformation from a person into an object, a spectacle rather than a participant in life. The word "mysterious" is not used in its usual sense—it does not imply intrigue or mystique, but rather a sense of detachment, of being unknowable even to oneself.
Musically, Distant mirrors its lyrical themes by avoiding excess. The melody never overwhelms, the production never forces an emotional response, and yet the track feels deeply affecting. This is music that breathes, that leaves room for interpretation, that thrives on what is not said as much as what is.
It’s easy to overproduce emotion—to throw in soaring synth lines, dramatic crescendos, and force the listener into feeling something. Distant does the opposite. It pulls back, allowing the listener to feel the emptiness and the longing on their own terms.
This is music for the spaces in between, for moments of disconnection that are too abstract to explain but too real to ignore. It doesn’t tell you what to feel—it just exists within that space where feeling becomes difficult to define.
