Music not only as artistic fulfilment, but also as an emotional safe-space? For Mika Noé, it was clear from the beginning of his musical journey that he wanted to create such a space for his own experiences and thoughts as well as for those of his audience. And so, in songs such as “Distanz / Seh nicht klar” and “Planlos” (2024), the stylistically confident dream-dancer sings of responsibility and forgetting, of letting go and getting caught, but also of the spaces in between life in the 21st century – spaces that lie somewhere between indie pop and songwriter poetry. It is a contemporary soundtrack for early tweens who are forced to find themselves in an unreal and ambiguous time. Seemingly trapped in a labyrinth full of mirrors, Mika Noé tries to sketch out an escape plan without resorting to ignorance – because cynicism is all too easy in a world full of cynics. It’s important to keep a cool head, to not close your mind to things, and to still be able to look forward with your head held high.