Pickle Darling - Bots (2025) [Hi-Res]

Pickle Darling has always operated on the fringes. In an age of fast-turnaround singles and algorithm-driven listening, Christchurch-based artist Lukas Mayo (they/them) remains devoted to the full-length album as a form. Their discography—beginning with 2019’s Bigness and 2021’s Cosmonaut—is defined by a curious, handcrafted approach, where offbeat loops, lo-fi textures and hushed vocals feel just as vital as melody.

Following the polished intimacy of 2023’s Laundromat, fourth album Bots marks a deliberate turn towards chaos. Recorded alone at home, these songs were cut, reversed, stretched and rebuilt—often from what Mayo describes as “unlistenable garbage”—until something new and affecting emerged. If a track felt too clean, they made sure to break it.

Drawing from the digital-folk oddities of The Books and Four Tet, the rawness of The Wrens, and the melodic clarity of 2000s pop icons like Robyn and Madonna, Bots is a homespun record of contrast and contradiction. Melancholy meets noise, intimacy meets glitch—a collection that feels like it belongs on a scratched CD-R passed between friends.



Tracklist:
1 Obsolete
2 Violence Voyager
3 Earthshaped
4 Congratulations Champion
5 Human Bean Instruction Manual
6 Steps
7 Massive Everything
8 Infinite Trolley