If Pickle Darling’s previous album Laundromat was a stab at whittling down their songs to the bare minimum, then their new album Bots goes down that path even further. Lukas Mayo (aka Pickle Darling) pared down the process more by recording each note individually and stitching them together to form new creations. Fed up with the idea of “the song”, Mayo wanted to deliberately “avoid capturing a performance as much as possible” and instead put more focus on the recording, editing, and construction process.
This meant for busy audio files on Mayo’s laptop. So stuffed were their arrangements for Bots that the New Zealander found their laptop crashing and refusing to open files after mixing in numerous layers of chopped up guitar, warped vocals, and stuttering fizzy drum machines. Not only did tracks contain an abundance of elements, they also formed into grander compositions than their previous record. Bots spreads out more compared to their last outing, extending outwards and letting moments develop and breathe.
Sometimes it’s to charming effect, showcasing Mayo’s knack for their own brand of glitchy, sweet electro-folk. Album centrepiece “Human Bean Instruction Manual” lets vocal harmonies and ideas emerge naturally, building up brick by brick. By all accounts it’s a Pickle Darling epic, but it still feels very miniature in stature. “You and I can maybe just form an unbeatable alliance,” they sing, a fitting sentiment as it sounds like human and robotic components come together to form something new. The endearing “Massive Everything” offers up Casio melodies that could swim about for twice the length of the track, but with the ragged retro drum track and high pitch vocals, it may be a little more of a sell for those not already on board with Mayo’s style. Following closing track “Infinite Trolley” shimmers and sparkles like stars falling from the sky, a send off for the album that feels like the aural equivalent of laying on grass and gazing into the universe.
Elsewhere the effect is still likeable, but doesn’t have the same memorable pull. “Violence Voyager” shows its seams, the cut and paste single guitar notes bringing a hokey charm – but it does feel a little unfinished and lacking a natural air flowing through it. “Earthshaped” evokes Sufjan Stevens with its intimate acoustic guitar, however, it also morphs one too many times and is unable to find a place to settle. Meanwhile opening track “Obsolete” takes its sweet time to establish a purpose after an extended voice note from songwriter Ava Mirzadegan ushers us into the album. Every so often Mayo’s habits die hard, “Congratulations Champion” and “Steps” two small acoustic ditties that sound recorded live from the home studio floor and like they would have fit neatly on Laundromat.
Through it all Mayo still keeps their wry and self-effacing humour which helps moments catch you by surprise. “For your consideration / I’m trying my damn hardest to not disappoint again / But I still do,” they open up the album on; “You know i’m gonna love you still / Like black mould loves the window sill / Like oceans love an oil spill / Like ducks towards an air rifle,” goes the aforementioned “Congratulations Champion.”
Mayo’s approach to making music on Bots was perhaps a little overconfident (their weary laptop will surely attest to that) and may not have resulted in their strongest effort to date, but this is still an album that is undeniably theirs. It might take until the second half to really hit any kind of stride and for the better anchor tracks to appear, but all the components – even in a chopped up and sewn back together piece by piece form – are theirs. Call it deconstruction, reconstruction, or even recontextualisation; it’s still Pickle Darling doing what they do best.
