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I came to love Indiana native artist In Distance, or Indy, from his debut singles “September” and “4th.” His new EP, Yike, takes the sound and themes I came to love with singles like these and puts a new spin on them, pairing downtrodden lyrical themes with upbeat instrumentals that make me want to dance around.

Progression and Instrumentals

The first track, “Calls,” is a perfect tone-setter for this EP. Starting on a slower pace helps the listener get a sense of Indy’s lyrical voice and tone. It feels like it’s picking up not where his last album, Lunar, left off, but rather where his second single, “4th,” left off, starting half an octave higher than the 2024 release.

PROVIDED_INDISTANCE_YIKE_BYTE_01092026_01 — Courtesy of In Distance via Instagram

Immediately following, we get a moment of silence before a direct signal that things are picking up instrumentally from here. “I’ll Bring You Down With Me” feels like how Indy would answer the call from the previous song—if it were returned—but deep down, he knows it won’t be. Overall, it fits really well with its place in the EP and serves its purpose. That being said, I think it’s my least favorite track. It sounds too bland, and it’s missing the personality and passion that In Distance brings to the rest of the EP.

The third track picks up the “Slack” from the previous song. I really appreciate its apathetic nature, and it almost feels passive-aggressive. It builds on my favorite thing about “I’ll Bring You Down With Me,” the chord progression. Again, making a similar sound to the previous one, but making “Slack” tackle the same feelings with a lot more apathy.

The last two tracks, “Killing Me” and “Obviously (Before I Go),” are classic In Distance hits. They both really build off everything I love about the “Illiterate” single from last year. They both have the energy I need to dance around my room, but the theme that reminds us that Indy himself is in pain. The riff in the instrumental bridge before the last chorus of “Killing Me” makes me want to jump up and down with joy every time I hear its contagious energy.

Lyrics

As a perfect opposite to the more upbeat tone of the instrumentals, the overall lyrical tone of this EP is one of grief and sadness, just like in the Lunar album. However, In Distance has clearly improved as a poet and a lyricist since then.

My favorite song of the EP, “Killing Me,” is lyrical gold. It describes heartbreak in the dead of winter, saying, “I'm too quick to it, finding all the little things, and dissembling.” He describes the time of year, and mourns the summer saying, “sun setting just around six again, I miss it when nine o’clock was golden.” It’s a very lonely song, describing that even while around people, he struggles to fit in, “I’m trying my best, I want connection but I don't get it.” He is so sad with these lyrics, the chorus, “it’s killing me, something I don’t wanna see, is my heart beating” describes a pain so severe it penetrates both the apathy of the rest of the songs in the EP, and the upbeat instrumentals of the song. He wants so badly for the ecstasy described in the instrumentals, but as described in the lyrics, he feels “incapable of ecstasy.”

“Calls” starts off with the lyric “stuck and in my bed again,” which feels a lot like the “4th” single, which starts with the lyrics, “stuck in this fuzzy little haze.” Both songs go on to parallel each other with “Calls” saying, “I need someone to get me out of it,” and “4th” saying, “haven’t heard from anyone in days, except for you and a mirror.” These parallels make it seem like the two songs are talking directly to each other. The version of Indy from “Calls” wants to hear the voice of the person he speaks about in “4th.” Now, he’s alone and needs someone to talk to, hence the chorus “Pick up your calls, I’ve answered every one of them.”

PROVIDED_INDISTANCE_YIKE_BYTE_01092026_02 — Courtesy of In Distance via Instagram

The next track, “I’ll Bring You Down With Me,” is a description of Indy’s relationship with this person. He feels very turned around, asking, “Is this too much, or not enough for you?” The whole track is him contemplating first what he should’ve, could’ve, and would’ve said while this person was still in his life, and second what he would even say if he could talk to this person again. He does admit, “it’s all my fault, I should’ve seen it coming, but even hindsight ain’t 20/20 vision.”

These first two contemplative songs leave the last three wanting to break out of the sadness, “Slack” opening with the lyric, “I need to relax.” This song goes on to say, he tried, he failed, and everything is fine now. He ends the EP by saying, “Before I go, I’ll let you know how I’ve been feeling, it’s all for show.” ”Obviously (Before I Go)” breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the listener. When listening to In Distance, you can tell that a lot of his music is very personal, yet he still has walls up as a performer. He calls out this paradox of wearing your heart on your sleeve on stage, but for the entertainment of the crowd, saying, “She knows what I’m thinking, and he does too; they know what I’m thinking, and he does too.”

Final Thoughts

Overall, Yike has been on repeat for me since its release on Jan. 2, and it was an amazing EP to start the new year. Hearing the way In Distance matures as both a musician and a lyricist has been such a joy since his debut in 2023, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with this sound in the years to come.