Oklou @ QMU, Glasgow, 1 Dec

Nursing a cold, Oklou descends onto the stage with the gentle opener thank you for recording. If we had become weary between George Riley’s support slot and Oklou appearing a short 15 minutes later, we're soon pulled back into the room.  She projects her head torch into the crowd for a brief moment, before turning the light towards herself, expelling mystical notes on her recorder that seamlessly weave into the track’s warm sounds.

Before playing the next track, obvious, she shares it’s one of her favourites, a combination of synthesised vocals with tender sounds underlaid with a quickening pace. Whilst Oklou’s energy feels compromised (likely owing to her cold), her rhythmic visuals compensate. Cold, trance blues, reminiscent of her videos, are overlaid with translucent, fluid images that draw the audience in. 

Oklou guides us into endless, the first track on choke enough, and the inspiration behind the album, she adds. Her shimmering vocals accompany dreamy synths carrying the crowd side to side. She then revisits Galore, from her 2020 mixtape of the same name, trying her best not to sniffle into the mic as she immerses us in ascending vocals, set to the backdrop of a glowing orange stage.

Image: Oklou @ QMU, Glasgow, 1 Dec by Sturoi Marco 

But it’s not until the punchier harvest sky that the crowd are dancing. The electric pulsing of the lights, encapsulates the energy of the track, while Oklou absorbs the energy of the crowd. She keeps this going with recent single dance 2, while the crowd vibes along; this is followed by viscus, her collaborative track with FKA twigs, and then what’s good, which both feel like a return to more tender visuals of stars and cosmic tones. But it’s easy for the crowd to adjust. Oklou is taking us on a journey, and the crowd is eager to accompany her.
Tonight's gig is sold out, and a venue the size of QMU feels fitting for Oklou’s sound and visuals, leaving us questioning whether a larger space would grant the audience the same experience, and encouraging us to savour the night.

And we do, as Oklou’s encore leads the crowd into excitement with one of her most popular tracks, blade bird, expelling a kaleidoscopic groove of sounds. Leaving her first-ever visit to Scotland a gratifying one that has submerged the audience into her sonic landscape.