“I wanted this song to sound like something ethereal but also very earthy – Bladee’s voice is helping to keep the feet on the ground”
At the confluence of dreamy, playful and maybe arcane, we meet Oklou and Bladee – two of gen-Z’s most acclaimed voices of the alt sphere. Both in music style and aesthetics, the French producer/composer and the Swedish rapper are far from synonymous, yet evidently tangential. The two recently epitomised their analogous crafts in their new single “take me by the hand”. The song fuses in delectable proportion Oklou’s whimsy girliness with Bladee’s angsty, dreamlike vigour (in true Drain Gang fashion). Of course, neither of them shy away from their customary autotune-ridden vocals. The song itself already attests to their fit; the music video is here to enforce, almost literally, the match made in heaven: we see them as spectral beings embedded in varying lighting, like two digitally-accurate angels in their natural ecosystem.
Blessedly, the single is not a standalone piece – it’s merely a portent for all of the upcoming exciting news from Oklou. With her debut album “choke enough” lined up for February 7th, in addition to a string of tour dates throughout Europe and North America (many of which already sold out!), there is much to look forward to in due course. Recently released tracks such as “choke enough”, “harvest sky” and “obvious” hint to what we expect to be an effervescent, yet serene EP.
“I see it as built on a permanent conversation between a life anchored in reality and another in fantasy,” the artist further details on the release. “I can’t imagine a life without daydreaming, without spending time appreciating beauty, but I need to be anchored to the ground to continue paying attention to what’s happening around me.”
