Trentemøller | Moan (Trentemøller Remix) feat. Ane Trolle
What is Trentemøller’s “Moan” about? How a wordless debut album, a Copenhagen singer, and a Laika tribute video created one of electronic music’s most haunting tracks.
Quick Facts: Release Date, Genre, and Credits
“Moan (Trentemøller Remix)” was released in March 2007 as the second single from Anders Trentemøller’s debut album The Last Resort. The remix runs 7:25 in C minor at 120 BPM, featuring vocals from Danish singer Ane Trolle. It was released on Poker Flat Recordings (catalog PFR81), with a Radio Slave remix on the B-side. The track also appeared on The Trentemøller Chronicles compilation later in 2007.
What Is “Moan” About?
The lyrics are deceptively simple. Ane Trolle repeats variations of obsessive longing: thinking too much about someone, seeing the sunset with no sleep, staring at a phone. It’s not a story. It’s a loop. The same feeling circling back on itself, which is exactly what the word “moan” suggests: not a scream, not a cry, just a low, continuous ache that doesn’t resolve.
Trentemøller described The Last Resort as reflecting “my life, my thoughts, my needs, my insecureness, my longings.” The original album version of “Moan” was entirely instrumental. Adding Trolle’s voice was a decision he initially resisted, because he wanted the album to tell its story without words. The vocal version was kept off the main tracklist and placed on a limited edition bonus disc instead. The remix is where those two instincts finally merged: the instrumental atmosphere of the album and the emotional directness of the vocal, pushed onto the dancefloor.
Story Behind “Moan”
A Wordless Album and the Voice It Almost Never Had
The Last Resort was designed as a wordless experience. Trentemøller recorded 13 instrumental tracks that flow together like a film soundtrack, moving through ambient miniatures, dub textures, dusty beats, and driving grooves. “When I listened to the final sequence of tracks, it felt as if I was listening to the soundtrack of a movie, that unfolded before my eyes,” he said. “Vocal tracks would maybe mix-up the whole feeling of the soundpicture.”
But during the sessions, he recorded two vocal tracks anyway. One was “Always Something Better” with Richard Davis. The other was “Moan” with Ane Trolle, a Copenhagen singer introduced to Trentemøller by a mutual friend. Both were placed on the bonus disc of the limited edition, separated from the main album’s instrumental narrative. The decision to keep them apart proved to be creatively productive: it meant Trentemøller could later remix “Moan” without any obligation to the album’s original atmosphere.
From Bonus Track to Defining Single
When Poker Flat released “Moan” as the second single in early 2007, Trentemøller remixed his own vocal version. He kept the melancholic core and Trolle’s haunting delivery, but rebuilt the architecture around it: punchy drums, screaming synths, and additional guitars that pushed the track from headphone listening onto the dancefloor. The result was something Resident Advisor described as “the perfect bridge between shoegazing and barnstorming,” a track where Trolle’s sweet voice gets overtaken by a wailing synth line that turns serene smiles into something more intense.
The single’s B-side featured a remix from Radio Slave (Matt Edwards), one of the most in-demand remixers of the era, who built his version into a slowly escalating wall of sound. A dub remix and instrumental version were released simultaneously on a separate white-label 12”.
“Moan” Recording and Production Details
The Sound Between Minimal and Everything Else
The Last Resort was recorded in Copenhagen, incorporating live drums, guitars, celesta, glockenspiel, melodica, and even DJ scratching alongside electronic production. Trentemøller’s approach was to create an electronic album that felt organic, a kaleidoscope of textures that moved beyond the minimal techno he was known for from earlier singles like “Physical Fraction” and “Polar Shift.”
For the remix, Trentemøller kept the core emotional DNA of the vocal version but added layers that gave the track dancefloor momentum. The production builds gradually, with Trolle’s vocals entering over a restrained foundation before the arrangement expands outward. The signature moment comes when a dark, foreboding synth lead cuts through the mix, a sound that listeners and reviewers consistently describe as the track’s emotional turning point. One Discogs reviewer captured it well: the track is “more for the head than the feet,” sitting somewhere between minimal, trance, and something that defies easy categorization.
Ane Trolle’s Vocal Character
Ane Trolle (born 1979) brought a distinctive vocal texture to “Moan” that became inseparable from the track’s identity. Her delivery is restrained and slightly detached, closer to the cool distance of European art-pop than to conventional electronic music vocals. Some listeners have compared her tone to traditional pop singers from the 1940s and 50s, noting how the combination of her voice with Trentemøller’s minimal-influenced production created something that felt both forward-thinking and rooted in older traditions. Trolle went on to collaborate with other artists including Peder (for Hotel Costes Vol. 10) and released her solo debut Honest Wall in 2012.
Notes About “Moan (Trentemøller Remix)” by Trentemøller
Release Date: March 2007 (single); album The Last Resort released October 6, 2006
Duration: 7:25
Genre: Electronic / Minimal / Tech House / Indie Electronic
Album: The Last Resort (debut album, track 12 instrumental; vocal version on limited edition bonus disc)
Featured Vocalist: Ane Trolle
Producer: Anders Trentemøller
Label: Poker Flat Recordings (PFR81)
Key: C minor, 120 BPM
Also appears on: The Trentemøller Chronicles (2007)
Trentemøller “Moan” Era Details
Album Details
Album: The Last Resort
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Label: Poker Flat Recordings
Producer: Anders Trentemøller
Format: Double CD (limited edition with bonus disc), vinyl, digital
Album concept: 13 instrumental tracks forming a wordless soundtrack-like narrative
Critical reception: Voted “Album of the Year” by multiple dance magazines; one of the most successful independent albums of 2006
Personnel
Anders Trentemøller - Production, all instruments, programming, mixing
Ane Trolle - Vocals on “Moan” (vocal version and remix)
Richard Davis - Vocals on “Always Something Better”
Radio Slave (Matt Edwards) - B-side remix, recorded at Studio 56, Brighton
Album Production Notes
Recorded in Copenhagen
Incorporates live drums, guitars, celesta, glockenspiel, melodica, and DJ scratching alongside electronic production
Trentemøller was voted “Best Newcomer” in multiple reader polls following earlier singles on Poker Flat and Audiomatique
The Last Resort was preceded by Trentemøller’s acclaimed remixes for Royksopp (”What Else Is There?”), The Knife (”We Share Our Mother’s Health”), and Pet Shop Boys (”Sodom”)
“Moan” single released March 2007 as second single from the album
The Trentemøller Chronicles compilation followed in October 2007
Interesting Facts About “Moan”
The Laika Video That Made Everyone Cry
The music video for “Moan” was directed by Niels Grabol and Ulrik Crone and filmed on location in Moscow at -25°C. It tells the story of Laika, the stray dog picked up from Moscow’s streets in 1957 to become the first living creature sent into orbit aboard Sputnik 2. The mission had no return plan. Laika died during the fourth orbit from overheating.
The video ends with the dedication: “In memory of Laika (1957), the first living creature to enter orbit.” The combination of Trolle’s aching vocal, Trentemøller’s melancholic production, and the story of a dog sent to die alone in space created something that transcended its genre. YouTube comments on the video consistently describe viewers in tears. The video transformed “Moan” from an underground electronic track into something with broader emotional reach, proving that dance music could carry real narrative weight without sacrificing any of its sonic identity.
The Artist Who Remixed Himself
There’s something unusual about “Moan (Trentemøller Remix)”: it’s an artist remixing his own track. This wasn’t a case of handing the song to an outside producer for reinterpretation. Trentemøller took a piece he had deliberately kept off his main album, added a vocal he had deliberately recorded but sidelined, and then rebuilt it into a version that became more famous than the original. The remix became the definitive version: it’s the one that appears in DJ sets, compilation lists, and “best of electronic music” discussions. The instrumental album track and the vocal bonus track were both stepping stones to a final form that didn’t exist until Trentemøller gave himself permission to combine what he had been keeping apart.
Common Questions
Q: What is “Moan” by Trentemøller about? A: The lyrics express obsessive longing and sleepless fixation on another person. Trentemøller described the broader album The Last Resort as reflecting “my life, my thoughts, my needs, my insecureness, my longings.” The vocal version gives a human voice to what the instrumental original conveyed purely through mood and atmosphere.
Q: Who sings on “Moan” by Trentemøller? A: Danish singer Ane Trolle, a Copenhagen-based vocalist introduced to Trentemøller by a mutual friend. She recorded the vocal version during the Last Resort sessions, though it was initially placed only on the limited edition bonus disc.
Q: When was “Moan” released? A: The original instrumental version appeared on The Last Resort (October 6, 2006). The vocal version and Trentemøller Remix were released as a single in March 2007 on Poker Flat Recordings.
Q: What is the “Moan” music video about? A: The video, directed by Niels Grabol and Ulrik Crone, tells the story of Laika, the stray dog launched into orbit aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957 with no return plan. It was filmed in Moscow at -25°C and is dedicated to Laika’s memory.
Q: What genre is “Moan” by Trentemøller? A: The track sits between minimal techno, tech house, and indie electronic. Resident Advisor described it as “the perfect bridge between shoegazing and barnstorming,” defying easy genre classification.
Q: Is “Moan” on The Last Resort album? A: The original instrumental is track 12 on The Last Resort. The vocal version featuring Ane Trolle appeared on the limited edition bonus disc. The Trentemøller Remix was released as a separate single in 2007 and later included on The Trentemøller Chronicles.
Q: How long is the Trentemøller Remix of “Moan”? A: The full remix runs 7:25. A radio edit version also exists.