Oklou – choke enough
choke enough, the debut album from French vocalist, producer and composer Oklou is mature and assured
On choke enough, Oklou's mature and assured debut album, any potential bombast is subdued, like it was recorded underwater. Throughout its entirety there’s a hint of the lushness of a Magdalena Bay production, or the whimsy of Astra King, except all hyperpop trappings are subtler, out of focus; they evaporate in the mix. A fleeting sense of distance comes through songs like thank you for recording and family and friends, strange chords drifting over autotuned voicenotes and sparse brass synth.
ict is a particular highlight, with giddy nostalgic lyrics delivered over shimmering trance-like stabs. The title track also beguiles – out of its patient intro comes rolling loops and snippets of topline, cohering, slowly, to form a hauntological take on Y2K rave. want to wanna come back is the most Caroline Polachek-adjacent track here, both in its alt-R'n'B groove and ‘want to wanna’, the distance of some half-remembered childhood desire, fading into the cutoff. blade bird ends the album, and when the 808s come in, it elevates to a post-dancefloor anthem – it’s like opening a window, to hear some mysterious sound from outside just a little clearer.
Listen to: ict, choke enough, blade bird