Oklou choke enough
Oklou's choke enough arrives as a quietly ambitious debut that trades big gestures for textured micro-moments, and across professional reviews critics largely agree it rewards close, repeat listening. Earning a 76.57/100 consensus score across 7 professional reviews, the record stakes its claim through Internet-influenced production, Y2K synth aesthetics and an intimate-but-distant vocal approach that frames memory, nostalgia and the tension between public life and solitude.
Critics consistently point to a small cluster of standout tracks that crystallize the album's strengths: “ict”, “choke enough”, “endless” and “take me by the hand”. Reviewers praise “ict” for its giddy nostalgia and chaotic final moments, while the title track draws notice for its patient, hauntological build and meticulous textural design. Publications from Pitchfork to Resident Advisor highlight how Baroque-influenced polyphony, found sounds and trance-tinged loops give songs like “endless” and “blade bird” a sense of crafted intimacy amid bright digital ornamentation. Several critics note short song structures, repeated motifs and obscured vocals as deliberate choices that favor mood and atmosphere over conventional pop payoff.
Yet perspectives are mixed enough to matter: some reviewers celebrate the record's therapeutic, ambient-pop micro-architecture and its skillful balance of minimalism and maximalism, while others find the album slips into wallpaper, with memorable fragments failing to cohere into sustained statements. The critical consensus suggests choke enough is worth investigating for its standout tracks and sonic craft - particularly if you prize textured, experimental electro-pop where nostalgia and persona feel purposely ambiguous - and it sets a distinct artistic marker for Oklou's development.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
endless
4 mentions
"Opener "endless" begins in a deconstructed symphony of metronome-like ticks and strings"— Resident Advisor
obvious
5 mentions
"dancehall hiccups on "obvious.""— Resident Advisor
take me by the hand
3 mentions
"Bladee on the burbling call for connection “ Take Me by the Hand ”"— Pitchfork
Opener "endless" begins in a deconstructed symphony of metronome-like ticks and strings
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
endless
thank you for recording
family and friends
obvious
ict
choke enough
(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)
take me by the hand
plague dogs
forces
harvest sky
want to wanna come back
blade bird
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 7 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Oklou’s choke enough feels like a small, persistent revelation; the reviewer’s enthusiasm makes it clear the best tracks are those that linger. They single out “obvious”, “ict”, and “want to wanna come back” as songs they keep returning to, praising how each delivers lyrical bite, striking sounds, and mood versatility. The voice is reverent and conversational, insisting this record repeatedly rewards repeated listens and works as both soundtrack and solace. This narrative—part recommendation, part awe—answers searches for the best songs on choke enough by naming the top tracks and explaining why they stand out in the reviewer’s experience.
Key Points
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The best song is best because it combines memorable sounds, emotional lyrics, and repeat-listen appeal.
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The album’s core strengths are nostalgic yet fresh production, emotional resonance, and consistent replay value.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a voice both intimate and exacting, Oklou's choke enough stakes a claim as one of 2025's best records, led by songcraft on tracks like “thank you for recording” and “take me by the hand”. The record feels like a studio of textures - impressionistic electro-pop, wistful vocal mutations and conservatory-bred restraint - and the album's best songs reveal how Oklou folds nostalgia and desire into forward-facing, internet-honored production. If you want to know the best tracks on choke enough, start with “thank you for recording” for its underwater synth melody and “take me by the hand” for its guest-coated, digitized intimacy.
Key Points
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The best song is "thank you for recording" because its underwater synth melody and vocal processing crystallize the album's strengths.
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The album's core strengths are textured, internet-influenced electro-pop production and the blending of classical training with modern vocal experimentation.
Themes
Th
Critic's Take
Hi, everyone. Backthony Offtano here, and on choke enough I found only a few fleeting moments that register as strong songs. The reviewer voice here calls out “ict” for chaotic final moments and the title track “choke enough” for parading around as a four-minute intro that never builds, making those the most discussed pieces when answering which are the best tracks on choke enough. Overall the album leans into dreamy Y2K synth textures and breathy vocals, but it ends up feeling like wallpaper rather than immersive pop, so the best songs are the ones that at least try to do something bold - namely “ict” and “choke enough”.
Key Points
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The best song moments are those that attempt to break the album’s passive mood, notably the chaotic final stretch of "ict".
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The album’s core strengths are its consistent Y2K synth-pop aesthetics and breathy, highly processed vocal atmosphere.
Themes
Critic's Take
Oklou’s choke enough finds its best songs in the textured centerpieces, especially “choke enough” and “Harvest Sky”, where meticulous Baroque-influenced arrangements meet club-tinged ambience. Walden Green writes with an attentive, musicological eye, praising how the title track channels muffled party ambience into metamorphic trance while “Harvest Sky” beams childhood bonfire memories through hyperreal folk motifs. The record’s strengths lie in its rigorous sound design and imitative polyphony, so when you ask which are the best tracks on choke enough, the answer is the ones that foreground texture and motif - the title track and the bonfire-streaked “Harvest Sky” become emblematic of Mayniel’s singular fusion of old and new.
Key Points
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The title track is best because it crystallizes Oklou’s metamorphic trance and meticulous textural production.
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The album’s core strength is its fusion of Baroque polyphony and club-inflected electronic textures that prioritize motif and sound over persona.
Themes
Re
Critic's Take
In her debut choke enough, Oklou turns pastoral found sounds and trance-tinged loops into moments of clear tenderness, with standouts like “endless” and “ict” crystallising that balance. The reviewer's voice relishes detail - the bubbling arpeggios of the title track and the jingle-like trumpet of “ict” are cited as proof of Oklou's knack for turning simple pleasures into vivid pop. Oklou's head voice hovers above crowded arrangements, making songs such as “plague dogs” and “blade bird” feel both public and painfully private. Ultimately, the best tracks on choke enough work because absence makes the heart grow fonder, a theme she returns to again and again.
Key Points
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The best song, notably "ict," turns simple jingles into ecstatic, colourful pop moments.
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The album's core strength is blending intimate vocals with found sounds and trance-informed repetition.
Themes
Critic's Take
Oklou's choke enough feels like a debut recorded underwater, intimate and restrained yet richly textured; the review points listeners toward the best tracks, notably “ict”, “choke enough” and “blade bird”. Ian Macartney praises how “ict” pairs giddy nostalgic lyrics with shimmering trance-like stabs, making it a clear standout. He frames the title track “choke enough” as a patient build into a hauntological Y2K rave, which is why many will call it a best track on choke enough. Finally, “blade bird” is singled out as an elevated post-dancefloor anthem, a closing moment that helps define the album's strengths.
Key Points
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The best song is "ict" because it is called a particular highlight with giddy nostalgic lyrics and shimmering trance-like stabs.
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The album's core strengths are its subtle, hauntological production, emotional distance, and restrained but vivid pop textures.
Themes
Critic's Take
Oklou's choke enough reads less like a cohesive album and more like a string of charming micro-moments, and the best songs prove it. The reviewer keeps returning to “endless”, “obvious” and “take me by the hand” as the clearest instances where those moments actually become songs. They praise “endless” for its silky vocal melodies, call “obvious” an earworm of a bridge, and single out “take me by the hand” as one of the most defined tracks. Overall the tone is affectionate but critical - a record of delightful bits that rarely coheres into a sustained statement.
Key Points
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The best song, "take me by the hand", stands out because it feels like a full, defined moment rather than a vignette.
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The album's strength is its catalogue of delightful micro-moments and memorable hooks despite a sanitised, formless overall presentation.