Lightly, Lightly...

Image: Bare Necessities, 2025

In 1997, when Radiohead dropped their third studio album OK Computer, we were still kids. We discovered them in our angsty teens, through the Internet—a shiny new toy we'd magically hook up to via a noisy DSL modem in our shared bedroom. Their music filtered through LimeWire like a soundtrack for adulthood... both electrifying and ominous.

Looking back now, they seem downright psychic, having sensed the side effects of a totally wired world: the mindless amusement, the echo-chamber conformity, the pressure to keep up. 

Fitter happier. More productive. Comfortable. Not drinking too much. Regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week)… sound familiar? 

Thom Yorke, the band’s lead singer, has said this iconic spoken word poem was inspired by all the ways that people were supposed to live in the 1990s. Yet here we still are at the crack of 2026––optimising for every metric in the book. Strapping on our smart watches. Keeping track of steps, heart rate, REM, what Trump said in the morning, why so-and-so is holidaying in Europe (again??) and we’re not, movie watch-list before the Oscars, what Trump said in the evening, the f**k is 6-7? And do we really need to care? 

It all just feels heavy. 

There is so much noise in the world right now. At times, it seems as though our greatest challenge is to create enough space to form our own thoughts. To break away from this endless trap of production and consumption, and tune into the things most important to us.

How to drown out the noise, then, without burying our heads in the sand? (lest we get left behind as the future marches on)... 

“Lightly, lightly—it's the best advice ever given me... so throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly.”

~ Aldous Huxley on approaching life with lightness

In an overwhelming world where everything exists everywhere all at once, the bright side is that everything exists everywhere all at once. And for the first time in history, you get to choose what works for you. Not the patriarchy, nor institutionalised religion; not some rando on Instagram or a flimsy politician. The time has come to delineate for ourselves.

It’s something we talk about actively at the studio. Because with power comes responsibility—to fellow travellers in this transient existence, and to ourselves. To choose to be moral in the face of anarchy may seem pointless, but it could be the only thing that will keep us sane in an increasingly nihilistic world. 

So our goal for 2026 is to home in on our own personal religion—to customise an approach to life and work that makes us feel lighter, happier, and more productive. We invite you to try it too. What’s your philosophy, your moral code, your unique hierarchy of needs?

Whether it’s finding purpose within a career, or a cause, strengthening ties with friends and family, or paying more attention to your physical and mental health, the equation will look different for each of us. That’s the whole point. Once you’re tuned into your signals, it’s easy(er) to filter out the noise. 

Because whatever the downsides of our modern world may be, in the year 2026, the upside is you don’t need to conform. 

Go lightly x