Described by Lukas Mayo as ‘maybe the first kind of ‘pop’ song I’ve ever made,’ ‘Massive Everything’ is not just a new song from Pickle Darling, but an introduction to a new stage in the evolution of the project.” So we wrote back in June, describing how the the Aotearoa/New Zealand-based producer and multi-instrumentalist has decided to take the lead from Robyn, Cher and Ray of Light-era Madonna, losing a certain degree of the poetry and playfulness which marked previous releases to “instead embrace the exhilaration of being wholly direct.” The resulting track, we continued, “is a love song with all the complications left in. Moreover, one not attenuated by the attached pain and personal baggage but conversely made larger. A picture of a love substantial enough to bear the weight accumulated through living.”
However, as latest single ‘Human Bean Instruction Manual’ demonstrates, this new era of Pickle Darling does not jettison the idiosyncratic charm which has won the project so many fans. Nor does a commitment to forthright communication elide any sense of ambiguity. Indeed, this is a song all about such ambiguity, and how learning to embrace the doubt inherent within growing up in this strange present. “I just turned thirty and there’s no damn manual for this,” as Mayo explains. “Transitioning out of being a young adult in 2025 is like suddenly landing on a hostile planet our bodies haven’t adapted to.”
As if to mirror this tangle of uncertainty, the song sprawls to near seven fuzzy minutes. A track perhaps not direct in terms of style, but every bit as forthright as its predecessor when it comes to the message it carries. As Mayo concludes: “Everything we thought was important doesn’t mean shit. Everything is out to attack us, so all we can do is form our alliances and hang on tight.”
Watch the visualiser by Christiane Shortal below:
‘Human Bean Instruction Manual’ is out now via Father/Daughter Records and available from Bandcamp.
Photo by Nick Robinson