This is absolutely my first review of 2025 and first one in general for a long while, so far back that I don’t even remember when in 2024 it was. That said, I absolutely had to write about this record after hearing it a week ago, and somehow missing it upon its release at the beginning of this month. Nonetheless, Presence is a release in the film world that has already earned lots of potential to be a ‘Top of 2025’ for me, and similarly – this record is earning its place as that for the music world, as well. Oklou has, in my opinion, absolutely set the bar extremely high for this beautiful debut release, and I am now even furthermore convinced we are well past the need for Grimes anymore. Maybe that’s a joke in poor taste, but fellas? This is the era of Oklou.
I typically rate a ‘top album’, or one I consider a ’10/10′, as one that I’m able to listen to from front-to-back, over and over for an extended period of time, and not really want to skip a single track; to find something to be a ‘perfect score’, if we’re to do that in the world of art in any way, it seems only right to reserve this gold standard for an experience that is just as compelling, make-the-hairs-on-your-neck-stand-up-core, and overall stimulating each and every time you give your time and energy to it. Obviously, I’m not saying you have to have a major life epiphany every time you put it on the record player. But, if you’re like me, and find yourself coming back to listen to a record in full repeatedly over the course of a month or two, and enjoying it about the same each time? Yeah, let’s call that a 10/10.
My silly anecdote aside, choke enough is one of the coolest records I’ve heard and felt this compelled to write about in some time. This is no disrespect, of course, to all the wonderful music we got in 2024, and even other releases we’ve already seen two months into 2025 have had their promise, but it’s not every day you get an album that just… changes… something for you, so to speak. As a fan of electronic, experimental, pop artists that kind of go off the rails a bit with maybe their rhythmic, melodic, visual, or overall songwriting choices in some way – Oklou gives me something that feels personal on choke enough. Even as much as I listen over and pick up more on the lyrics and potential contexts for each, or even if I read anything that gives more insight on their meaning, it’s hard for me to totally nail down a singular ‘meaning’ behind what I hear – and I’m not implying that I ‘don’t get it’, but rather, it’s as if the songs just wind up fitting any mood, moment, or type of day I’m experiencing; it offers a therapeutic atmosphere for me that I have yet to find an occasion unfitting for.
Given the aforementioned state of respite I seem to continually gather from the record, it’s hard to summarize a collection of favorite tracks when this is just one I’d tell you to go ahead and spin until you think you’ve had enough for the day. I will say, however, that I’ve particularly come back to “obvious”, “ict”, and “want to wanna come back” a bit more repeatedly as singular focal points. These songs, as well as truly all the others on the tracklisting, just hit me each in their own way. In some ways, it’s the lyrical content, in others it’s the sounds and just what my brain feels as I listen, and then there’s this strange juxtaposition of fresh air and familiarity about the overall style. Even the album art alone makes me feel like I’ve returned to the fondest memories of the early 2000s. Like it’s the cover for the big, new, awesome Sci-Fi film, or the new Silent Hill-esque horror video game, and then you press play and you feel like you’re listening to a mix between The Cranberries, Björk, Feist, and Fiona Apple, and you just want to put on a nostalgic show or film and use one of these tracks as the soundtrack to introduce it; I’ve both never heard anything like this album before, and somehow it still feels like every nostalgic thing I’ve loved in experimental, electronic music before packed into one place – just, wow.
In an otherwise abysmal year full of loss and indescribably not great things, it’s good to have this little slice of audible heaven to massage my brain with each day, and best believe I’m getting my daily doses of that right now. Long story short, you need to give this record a spin or two. Oklou has mentioned in an article with Exclaim, that choke enough is all about a ‘quest for meaning, of the need to be touched by anything; a grandiose epiphany or a passing quotidien moment.‘ I think given many circumstances we’ve collectively experienced in 2025 so far, this sort of message, or questioning of where one stands with their purpose, hits at the exact perfect time and place, and perhaps that’s resonated so well with me that it has elevated every element to the stars. But at any rate, you be the judge – go stream this one on Bandcamp, or any platform of your choosing, and keep up with all things Oklou via Facebook or Instagram! Well done, Oklou, well done, indeed…
P.S.: No matter who you are or how you feel about choke enough, I think anyone can read lyrics as visceral and hard-hitting as this particular stanza from “want to wanna come back” is, and just feel something all too relatable, even if not specifically defined for what it means…
‘I wonder if we get a second chance
I’m scared to leave cause they might forget
But if I can’t be alone
Then how will I know that this is where I belong?‘
