Oklou
choke enough
Boomkat Product Review:
Oklou's proper debut album augments the sci-fi AOR waves of 2020's 'Galore' with strangled prog-trance arpeggios, 16-bit electro-medieval fanfares and rusty industrial remnants, co-produced by A.G. Cook and Danny L Harle. Unique, surprisingly subtle modern pop - RIYL FKA twigs, Erika de Casier, Imogen Heap, Björk.
It's tempting for artists to interpret the streaming era's data-dump mentality as a vindication of maximalism - if everything's available at the touch of a screen, why restrict yourself? oklou's 'Galore' rejected this logic so softly that it was almost lost in the chaos; the classically trained French singer-songwriter crafts flawless, elegant pop music that might as well be a reductionist answer to hyperpop. There's the same borderless view of genre and familiar undercurrent of contemporary DAW production, but Maryloud Mayniel's songs are whispered, not yelled, anchored by her candid, knotty vocal arrangements. Thankfully, 'choke enough' doesn't deviate from the blueprint too much, and although Cook and Harle step in to work alongside Mayniel's longstanding co-producer Casey MQ, their usual boisterousness is tempered by her presence of mind.
Murky SAW II globules moisten the low-end on opener 'endless', and Mayniel doesn't take the opportunity to dive deeper into the darkness, instead calling sweetly over the analogue bubbles and drybrushing her vocal phrases with bendy SH-101 vamps. The album takes an even more eccentric turn on 'thank you for recording', with Freedom To Spend-ready bardcore sine whistles and teased oscillator feedback for percussion. Fans of the album's predecessor will feel more at home with 'family and friends', a sweet natured upper register Enya-like singalong backed with wiry arpeggios, but even this one's deviously detailed, with ring modulated footwork polyrhythms just tickling the scenery and complex choral arrangements filling in the gaps.
Mayniel's skillful integration of club sounds is fully evident on the album's title track. At once ambient and steeped in trance mythology, it carves distorted and faded supersaw patterns up into loose, robotic moans and groans, suggesting a 4/4 without fully committing to the bit. Mayniel's voice just slides across the surface, ducking with the tempo and picking out melodies that muffle and buckle to present the illusion of stepping from the dancefloor and into the dark room. Balearic Spanish guitar licks and patient 2-step loops dance with Mayniel and Bladee's android back-and-forth on 'take me by the hand', and she links up these more hedonistic discharges with dreamy atmospherics, stabilising distant moans with pierside electronics on '(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)' and tape-fucked BoC synth vamps on 'forces'. It's the complete package - essential listening for discerning pop heads.
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Available To Order (Estimated Shipping between 7-14 Working Days)
This item is to the best of our knowledge available to us from the supplier and should ship to you within the time-frame indicated. If there are any unforeseen issues with availability we will notify you immediately
Boomkat Product Review:
Oklou's proper debut album augments the sci-fi AOR waves of 2020's 'Galore' with strangled prog-trance arpeggios, 16-bit electro-medieval fanfares and rusty industrial remnants, co-produced by A.G. Cook and Danny L Harle. Unique, surprisingly subtle modern pop - RIYL FKA twigs, Erika de Casier, Imogen Heap, Björk.
It's tempting for artists to interpret the streaming era's data-dump mentality as a vindication of maximalism - if everything's available at the touch of a screen, why restrict yourself? oklou's 'Galore' rejected this logic so softly that it was almost lost in the chaos; the classically trained French singer-songwriter crafts flawless, elegant pop music that might as well be a reductionist answer to hyperpop. There's the same borderless view of genre and familiar undercurrent of contemporary DAW production, but Maryloud Mayniel's songs are whispered, not yelled, anchored by her candid, knotty vocal arrangements. Thankfully, 'choke enough' doesn't deviate from the blueprint too much, and although Cook and Harle step in to work alongside Mayniel's longstanding co-producer Casey MQ, their usual boisterousness is tempered by her presence of mind.
Murky SAW II globules moisten the low-end on opener 'endless', and Mayniel doesn't take the opportunity to dive deeper into the darkness, instead calling sweetly over the analogue bubbles and drybrushing her vocal phrases with bendy SH-101 vamps. The album takes an even more eccentric turn on 'thank you for recording', with Freedom To Spend-ready bardcore sine whistles and teased oscillator feedback for percussion. Fans of the album's predecessor will feel more at home with 'family and friends', a sweet natured upper register Enya-like singalong backed with wiry arpeggios, but even this one's deviously detailed, with ring modulated footwork polyrhythms just tickling the scenery and complex choral arrangements filling in the gaps.
Mayniel's skillful integration of club sounds is fully evident on the album's title track. At once ambient and steeped in trance mythology, it carves distorted and faded supersaw patterns up into loose, robotic moans and groans, suggesting a 4/4 without fully committing to the bit. Mayniel's voice just slides across the surface, ducking with the tempo and picking out melodies that muffle and buckle to present the illusion of stepping from the dancefloor and into the dark room. Balearic Spanish guitar licks and patient 2-step loops dance with Mayniel and Bladee's android back-and-forth on 'take me by the hand', and she links up these more hedonistic discharges with dreamy atmospherics, stabilising distant moans with pierside electronics on '(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)' and tape-fucked BoC synth vamps on 'forces'. It's the complete package - essential listening for discerning pop heads.
Available To Order (Estimated Shipping between 7-14 Working Days)
This item is to the best of our knowledge available to us from the supplier and should ship to you within the time-frame indicated. If there are any unforeseen issues with availability we will notify you immediately
Boomkat Product Review:
Oklou's proper debut album augments the sci-fi AOR waves of 2020's 'Galore' with strangled prog-trance arpeggios, 16-bit electro-medieval fanfares and rusty industrial remnants, co-produced by A.G. Cook and Danny L Harle. Unique, surprisingly subtle modern pop - RIYL FKA twigs, Erika de Casier, Imogen Heap, Björk.
It's tempting for artists to interpret the streaming era's data-dump mentality as a vindication of maximalism - if everything's available at the touch of a screen, why restrict yourself? oklou's 'Galore' rejected this logic so softly that it was almost lost in the chaos; the classically trained French singer-songwriter crafts flawless, elegant pop music that might as well be a reductionist answer to hyperpop. There's the same borderless view of genre and familiar undercurrent of contemporary DAW production, but Maryloud Mayniel's songs are whispered, not yelled, anchored by her candid, knotty vocal arrangements. Thankfully, 'choke enough' doesn't deviate from the blueprint too much, and although Cook and Harle step in to work alongside Mayniel's longstanding co-producer Casey MQ, their usual boisterousness is tempered by her presence of mind.
Murky SAW II globules moisten the low-end on opener 'endless', and Mayniel doesn't take the opportunity to dive deeper into the darkness, instead calling sweetly over the analogue bubbles and drybrushing her vocal phrases with bendy SH-101 vamps. The album takes an even more eccentric turn on 'thank you for recording', with Freedom To Spend-ready bardcore sine whistles and teased oscillator feedback for percussion. Fans of the album's predecessor will feel more at home with 'family and friends', a sweet natured upper register Enya-like singalong backed with wiry arpeggios, but even this one's deviously detailed, with ring modulated footwork polyrhythms just tickling the scenery and complex choral arrangements filling in the gaps.
Mayniel's skillful integration of club sounds is fully evident on the album's title track. At once ambient and steeped in trance mythology, it carves distorted and faded supersaw patterns up into loose, robotic moans and groans, suggesting a 4/4 without fully committing to the bit. Mayniel's voice just slides across the surface, ducking with the tempo and picking out melodies that muffle and buckle to present the illusion of stepping from the dancefloor and into the dark room. Balearic Spanish guitar licks and patient 2-step loops dance with Mayniel and Bladee's android back-and-forth on 'take me by the hand', and she links up these more hedonistic discharges with dreamy atmospherics, stabilising distant moans with pierside electronics on '(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)' and tape-fucked BoC synth vamps on 'forces'. It's the complete package - essential listening for discerning pop heads.
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