Oklou—Choke Enough (Deluxe)

I discovered this album by chance and knew I had to review it. Oklou is a singer/songwriter from France, who's forté is experimental electronic pop and before you head for the hills, this is likely not like anything you've heard before, or at least it wasn't for me.

This review covers the deluxe version, which spans 17 tracks over 50 minutes. The original non-deluxe edition, released back in February, included 13 tracks.

The album opens with "endless", dark and brooding, but man when those vocals hit, I took things to another level. For me it's almost like the result of Vangelis looking for a vocalist and finding someone quite incredible.

The Vangelis influence is even more apparent in the track that follows, "thank you for recording" which for me is pure perfection. It starts with a beautiful organ/calliope melody and then almost pizzicato vocals, sharp, precise and beautiful. This is one of those tracks, that in my youth I would have found a way to splice into something that spanned the whole length of a C90 cassette, like I did with the intro and break of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".

As the album continues, it delivers track after track of what I can only describe as bottled lightning, a collection that hits the mark with every piece. There are hints of beautiful melodies and exquisite melodic accents throughout. Many tracks are short, yet each still manages to leave a lasting impact.

As well as the music and vocals, I definitely think some words on the production are well warranted. I've listened to this album several times, admittedly all while wearing headphones and I think this has been due to the way everything just swirls in your head in a delicate dance. This is definitely an album that you want to escape into and the rewards and payback are infinite.

Sometimes it’s difficult to review an album and break it down. While there are certainly standout tracks, which ones resonate will likely be very subjective.

As mentioned earlier, my favourite track would have to be "thank you for recording". Beyond that, if I were to distil this album into my own personal EP, it would also include "obvious", which carries a very Clockwork Orange–like, dystopian feel. "choke enough" has that hypnotic repetition I love getting lost in, as does "harvest sky", which features the calliope sound reminiscent of "thank you for recording".

I’d also include "viscus", a collaboration with FKA twigs and one of the additional tracks on the deluxe version, and finally "Dance 2", which, given my earlier choices, is probably easy to understand why it made the cut.

As mentioned earlier, every track on this album is fantastic, but a few feel like they might have worked better on a different release. Ironically, one of these is "take me by the hand,” which happens to have the most plays on YouTube Music, and the other is "plague dogs", Both are excellent tracks, but taken as part of the album as a whole, I felt they didn’t quite fit with the rest.

This album has already been a close companion for some time, and I can see it becoming a go-to record whenever I need to unplug, joining the ranks of albums like "Wish You Were Here" and "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd.

"thank you for recording". Outstanding.