We have a viscussion…
[Video]
[7.29]
Ian Mathers: Oh, it’s just the makers of two of my favourite records of the year collaborating on a new song that is, at least partially, about tummy aches (I’m not joking, giving us the incredible thought of “my body is a temple/am I worshiping too hard?”). And they blend, not seamlessly, but beautifully. Between choke enough, this, and her Tiny Desk Concert, I am absurdly excited for whatever Oklou does next, especially.
[10]
Nortey Dowuona: Wooo synths! They know my heart!
[8]
Julian Axelrod: choke enough is one of the best albums of the year, but its appeal lies in its insularity. Despite the presence of outside vocalists and producers, Oklou’s music sounds like hearing snippets of an ayahuasca retreat from down the hall. So the idea of a big name like Twigs entering Oklou’s carefully constructed sonic cathedral was equal parts intriguing and concerning: Would this be Oklou’s big pop turn? A Eusexua-esque pivot to gnarly club bangers? Fat chance, sucker: True to its name, “Viscus” is more internal, more diffuse, somehow stickier and harder to grasp than anything she’s released to date. It still sounds as if you took Imogen Heap’s ultrasound when she was pregnant with Speak for Yourself — but what’s this? The doctor moves the paddle, and… it’s FKA twins!
[7]
Alfred Soto: If the beats were twitchier and the melodies stronger, I could forgive FKA Twigs and Oklou’s collection of vocal tics.
[5]
Katherine St. Asaph: Not sure I realized before now how much Twigs’s voice sounds like Nicola Hitchcock — that “liquid nitrogen” quality, in the words of Melody Maker. She cuts right through this mix, in a way Oklou doesn’t quite.
[7]
Will Adams: Oklou’s signature palette evokes that space between sleep and waking, when your surroundings come into view, and what you’ve been dreaming of blurs into the real until – ah, clarity. It works well for a song about reconnecting with your body after feeling untethered from it. Twigs’ voice would risk being too tactile for the environment, but she’s deployed expertly, fading in through background vocals before taking the bridge, right as the song’s edges come into focus. It’s no accident that the synth washes in the final chorus sound like triumphant gasps for air.
[7]
Andrew Karpan: Yes, you are worshiping it too hard. But I think that’s fine. Keep doing that.
[7]