Max Pope’s latest single, love someone self destruct, might be his most vulnerable and sonically restless yet.
The South London artist trades his sun-drenched, groove-laced beginnings for something murkier, more fragile, and more feral.
The track is the third preview of Praise Animal, Pope’s upcoming second album, set for release on 3rd October via Kartel Music Group.
If this song is anything to go by, the record won’t shy away from exposing what we tend to conceal.
“Sweeter than I’ve ever seen / Hoping it’s only a dream” opens the track, setting up the emotional tightrope the rest of the lyrics walk: the longing for love undercut by a deep-rooted fear of it.
The standout line: “It’s all I ever wanted, can I give it back?” lands with the weight of a private thought accidentally said aloud.
Riley Macintyre’s production, recorded at North London’s Church Studios, mirrors the song’s psychological unease.
Layers shift and swell around Pope’s guitar, flickering in and out like memory. It’s a step into darker territory, but one that feels strangely inviting.
There’s a hypnotic quality to the chorusL “It’s easy just love someone; self-destruct” that mirrors the numbing cycles of self-sabotage.
Pope sings like someone watching themselves from a distance, stuck in a pattern they recognise but can’t yet escape.
He delivers heaviness without melodrama. The lyrics feel worn-in, shaped by repetition, by habits that refuse to die out quietly. “Stuck on repeat,” he notes, less with bitterness than with quiet recognition.
What makes love someone self destruct compelling is its refusal to offer relief. There’s no breakthrough, no cathartic resolution—just the slow, unflinching acknowledgement of an emotional pattern many know too well.
As a preview of Praise Animal, it suggests Max Pope is no longer interested in smoothing the edges.
He’s choosing instead to sit in the chaos, let it hum under the surface, and write songs that sting precisely because they tell the truth.
Max Pope – love someone self destruct
Sweeter than I’ve ever seen
Hoping it’s only a dream
Shut my eyes for a minute
It feels like I’ve been dodging the rain
It’s all I ever wanted, can I give it back?
When it’s all you’ve ever wanted
It’s easy just love someone; self-destruct
(cos I know the feeling)
It’s easy just love someone; self-destruct
(cos I know the feeling)
Over, stuck on repeat
Something like a machine
It feels too bright when I’m in it
So I’m getting light years away
It’s all I’ve ever wanted, can I give it back?
When it’s all you’ve ever wanted
It’s easy just love someone; self-destruct
(cos I know the feeling)
It’s easy just love someone; self-destruct
(cos I know the feeling)
Cos I know the feeling…
If stars shine bright before they burn out
Then I know the feeling
A distant light but I see it now
Is it just a feeling?