Oklou - Choke Enough
What situations are we ready to put ourselves into in order to provoke sensations and drama, in order to feel alive?
Choke Enough is a debut LP from a French singer-songwriter Oklou. It’s a very promising album co-produced by Danny L Harle (who has worked with Caroline Polachek) and A. G. Cook (executive producer of Charli xcx).
The name Oklou is probably new for you, and it’s no wonder. Her previous projects were quite niche and didn’t catch the public eye. There’s a slightly higher probability that you’ve come across her remixes – for Caroline Polachek’s “Door” and Dua Lipa’s “Fever” – but I bet you haven’t. So, what does it feel like – to be immersed in Oklou’s sonic world for the first time?
Choke Enough is a chamber / electronic record. It feels warm and unsettling at the same time – this bittersweet, nostalgic, winter fairytale is wrapped up in a muffled sound with sharp autotune, synths and echo.
The album opener, “Endless” is a perfect gateway to the world of the album. This slow-paced song conjures up the image of being alone in a dark room, reflecting on your past. Oklou wanders, “if the endless still inbound?” – and you immediately feel like time has stopped. The eponymous single, “Choke Enough”, yearns for a transcendental feeling. The lyrics here are messy and daring: “But if I choke up now / Then I'll just come back home to say / How the moon's hanging up / I think my dad would appreciate it”.
“Family Friends” and “Harvest Sky” are also decent highlights from the album. Not only do they create a nostalgic 90’s feeling – but they also paint a nocturnal scene with the infinite pulse. There’s a sense of interconnectedness between someone so lost in fantasies – that the “mother womb” is no longer home – and the harvest sky that is watching you above.
The themes of loneliness, being trapped in your mind and the responsibility for your own happiness are explored on tracks “Take Me by the Hand” (feat. Bladee) and “Blade Bird”. Oklou wants her partner to support her “when the trouble calls [their] names” and “inspiration’s end”. Yet, on the closer of the album Oklou admits that some things are meant to be let go and you might be the one who restricts the freedom of your loved one. It’s a sharp and poignant ending to this record.
Overall, this project comes off as a very cohesive piece of art with sweet tranquil melodies that hint at something more deep and tense. There are cuts on this album that point at familiar sounds that you’ve definitely heard somewhere, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. And there are cuts here and there that feel like a whole different Universe – e.g. the track “Thank You For Recording” with a flute sound, or “Ict” with trumpets that take the listener back to medieval times.
However, the majority of the lyrics are quite vague and not that deep. They do not provide the profound exploration of the narrator's feelings – but rather capture a very specific sentiment through a murmuring-like stream of consciousness. But anyway, it’s a decent album with a potential for Oklou to pursue her artistic path in the left-field pop genre.
7.4/10