INTRODUCING:PEDALO

PEDALO return with “Hate Me”, the shimmering new single taken from their upcoming sophomore EP Delicate Thing. Following the momentum of “Picture It Backwards”, the Glasgow five-piece continue to carve out their space in the dreampop landscape—blending euphoric pop hooks with hazy shoegaze textures and emotional punch.

Set for release on April 2nd, “Hate Me” captures the band at their most immediate and infectious, pairing groove-driven instrumentation with a sharp, emotionally charged core. It’s a bold preview of Delicate Thing—a record that promises their most cohesive and sonically adventurous work to date, spanning intimate moments, psychedelic flourishes, and anthemic highs.

We caught up with the band to talk about the themes behind “Hate Me”, the evolution of their sound, and what this new era of PEDALO represents.

“Hate Me” explores the idea of craving emotional connection even when it’s unhealthy—what inspired that theme, and how personal is the song to you as a band?

I think in this modern age of dating, especially online, there can be a great deal of apathy because you’ve got so many “options” available to you in a pretty accessible way. I don’t know if it’s because people feel like they don’t want to settle for someone, or they’re scared of rejection, but I feel like it really breeds this non-committal attitude of never actually saying how they feel, which I can’t stand. So “Hate Me” is kind of a tongue-in-cheek way of showing that need for connection and strong emotion: of knowing where you stand in a relationship. Basically, I’d rather you cared enough to hate me, than be superficially pleasant and not care at all.As with all our songs, we try to write from a place of personal experience and vulnerability, because I think that is where people really connect with your message. Relatability is a big driving force behind a lot of our music; of connecting and comforting people through shared experiences, so we’re hoping “Hate Me” resonates with a few of you out there too!

With Delicate Thing described as your most sophisticated work yet, how do you feel your sound has evolved since your earlier releases like “Migration”?

We’re really excited with how this EP has developed. In contrast to our first EP “Migration”, we went into writing “Delicate Thing” knowing we wanted it to be a collection of songs, rather than just singles that eventually found their way to each other. I think there’s a stronger sense of stylistic choices across the tracks, which make it feel more cohesive while still spanning a fairly wide scope of “vibes”. We’re also just more comfortable playing with each other and knowing our own strengths after four years as a band, so there’s been a bit more of tapping into those on this project too.

You mention influences like Alvvays and MUNA—how did those artists shape the sound and production of “Hate Me”?

Alvvays’ most recent album does a really great job of combining indie pop and shoegaze which blankets across a lot of our music. As well, MUNA’s blend of euphoric emotion with their vibrant synth/power pop sound was something that we wanted to carry through, especially with “Hate Me”. Given the sentiment of the song - with it acting as a kind of challenge to put effort into a relationship - we were really aware of letting this have the opportunity to grow and take up the space it felt it needed, and I think both of those bands were quite key in helping us do that.

The EP seems to move across a wide sonic range, from intimate tracks like “Good Girl” to more anthemic and shoegaze-driven moments—was that diversity intentional from the start?

I would say that kind of diversity is a staple of the pedalo sound! We’re very aware we come from different musical backgrounds and influences, and we love mixing all of those together to make something that is uniquely pedalo. When you’ve got five people in a band, it kind of becomes inevitable that some want to take songs in different directions, so we make sure we allow space to do that and try not to hem ourselves in too much. While we’ve all got different personal favourites, we’re very proud to say that every single one of our tracks has a piece of each of us in there.

As you prepare to release Delicate Thing and play upcoming shows, what do you hope listeners take away from this new era of Pedalo?

We are so excited to share this new era of pedalo, and so incredibly grateful that people are sticking around to hear it. This EP has something for everyone: from anthemic bangers to shout in your car, to quiet and introspective moments that hopefully stay with you after you listen. We have worked super hard on bringing “Delicate Thing” to life, both in the studio and on stage, and can’t wait to showcase it in its full glory.