Ōtautahi's Pickle Darling Signs To U.S. Record Label & Shares New Music

Aotearoa’s monarch of lo-fi indie pop, Pickle Darling (Lukas Mayo - they/them), announces their signing to U.S. record label, Father/Daughter Records (Anjimile, Annie Blackman, Tasha). In tandem with the announcement is the release of Pickle Darling’s new track, ‘King of Joy’. Stream/view/pre-save here: https://fdrecords.lnk.to/kingofjoy

Pickle Darling is known for being a one-person creation-machine from their bedroom in Ōtautahi/Christchurch releasing one e.p. Spring Onion Pancakes (2017, Z Tapes), two full-length albums; Bigness (2019, Z Tapes) and Cosmonaut (2021, Z Tapes), and most recently countless cover versions via TikTok. In doing so, Mayo has quietly caught the attention of international tastemaker media including Gold Flake Paint, indiebrew and stereogum, supported artists like Lucy Dacus, Fontaines D.C. and The Beths, gathered a community of fans from around the world and now a North American record label and a slot to perform in Austin Texas at the 2023 SXSW Festival in March.

Founder and owner of Father/Daughter, Jessi Frick comments "We are so excited to be working with Pickle Darling! I first fell in love with the immediate nature of their music. Every song feels like a blink of an eye or a deep inhale–the joys of humanity that are easily taken for granted if you don't stop to appreciate them. Lukas is a prolific songwriter and an awesome person and we can't wait to help share more Pickle Darling with the world."

The dream of “being signed” is one many Aotearoa artists aspire to and Lukas is no exception, “Super excited to work with Father/Daughter Records, an absolute dream label of mine. I couldn’t believe it when they reached out and still can’t really believe it!! Such a kind and hardworking team, and I can’t really believe I’m part of such a dream roster among some of my favourite songwriters!".

Leaning into the Art of Everyday, the music of Pickle Darling has a talent in delivering pithy lyrics wrapped in sweet melodies landing in songs often no longer than two minutes in length. Pickle Darling's newest single, ‘King Of Joy,’ marks their debut with Father/Daughter Records. On the track Mayo bends their sweet electronica to a rewound introduction, crafting a kind of nostalgia for a place that only exists in our periphery.

“King Of Joy was the first of the new batch of songs I was working on after I finished my last album, Cosmonaut.” reveals Lukas. “After an album that felt quite ambitious and laboured over, it felt refreshing to start making things that felt more immediate. I started trying to finish songs as quickly as possible, sticking to the core idea that initially grabbed me and being careful not to overwork it or stamp out the initial spark. I had a similar approach with the video for ‘King Of Joy’, I made it when I got COVID so I was just seeing what I could make just in my room in one day when I was losing my mind.”

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