The 2nd Best Album of 2025
Almost done, and another new artist for the list. She graced the cover of one of the last Crack magazines I received and I was like, oh yeah that album is coming out soon I should check it out. An alt-pop, nonchalant masterpiece, Oklou's Choke Enough lands at #2.
Oklou first came onto my radar when she released harvest sky, which was put out along with Obvious as the 2nd/3rd singles from the album. Harvest Sky features underscores, which is i'm sure the only reason spotify recommended it to me and I remember thinking, hey this is pretty cool. That was late 2024 and I didn't really follow any other singles that were released so the album went under my radar when it was released in February last year.
When I finally decided to listen to the album I remember hearing the opener Endless and thinking, this is pretty cool. Then kind of a mix of good tracks and meh tracks and then the bladee feature came on and that was dope. And then the closer Blade Bird came on and it's maybe my favorite song released in the 2020s my god. But overall the album seemed more good than great on first listen. But everytime I came back to it I felt like I picked up on something new, it sounded just a little better. The soft melodies carrying from track to track. Idk man I think a lot of people find this boring and I just don't get it. It's light, it's delicate, soft synth pads and beats, the vocals are also featherlight at times. But it's so damn pretty. It's spiderwebs and snowflakes and gossamer silk, light and fragile but elegant, intricate, every note perfectly placed. Idk man, I think it's one of the more beautiful albums I've heard in a long time, and I'm thankful I heard it last year.