Image courtesy of Spotify
French singer-songwriter and producer Oklou’s debut record “choke enough” has been lauded as one of this year’s best synth pop releases. On Thursday, Oct. 30, she will expand her album with a deluxe edition, introduced by hypnotizing lead single “viscus,” featuring the genre-bending FKA Twigs. Layering staccato synths, woodwinds, and bare percussion with Oklou and FKA Twigs’ breathy, honey-like vocals, “viscus” is an enchanting half-ballad, half-swan song that captures both songstresses’ power in the modern art-pop and electronic scene.
The track begins with a simple but lilting synth motif as Oklou describes the aching that accompanies nostalgia. She passes off the verse to FKA Twigs, who laments the all-too-familiar feeling of not being at home in your own body. Together, they examine uncomfortable feelings of dysmorphia and the heart-wrenching pain of growing older: “I get so lost deep inside me” and “Full of life but I’m starving.”
As the instrumentals swell like a bird in flight and the pair’s entrancing vocals weave together in harmony, a hopeful thought lingers: “I wanna find a place I feel alive / The beating of my heart / Is sure a place to start / Instead of me choking up and running.” Disquieting growing pains are inevitable, but “viscus” reminds you that you are alive despite it all.
Listen to the rest of the playlist here!