#casey mq

[yourdailyqueer]

Casey Manierka-Quaile (Casey MQ)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: N/A

Ethnicity: White - Canadian

Occupation: Singer, songwriter, musician, DJ, composer, record producer

[disease]

GREY GARDENS [RMX] CASEY MQ x LSDXOXO [LATER THAT DAY, THE DAY BEFORE, OR THE DAY BEFORE THAT (DLX), FEB 2025]

[knightofleo]

Oklou | family and friends

[dustedmagazine]

Oklou — choke enough (True Panther Sounds)

Photo by by Florian Solin

Listeners already familiar with Marylou Mayniel’s work as Oklou (pronounced “okay lou”) may be a bit surprised to see choke enough described as her debut album. The French singer and producer has been active for over a decade and put out the promising Galore back in 2020; but in current parlance that collection is considered a “mixtape” as opposed to an LP. If you look around online, you can find confusion about the distinction, with the former seeming to refer to anything from a release the artist and/or label doesn’t want to heavily focus on, to a collection that just wasn’t originally intended as a singular statement. Niceties of classification aside, though, those listeners will also notice that choke enough does feel like it’s on a different level than her previous work; it’s confident, focused, and consistently strong enough that it feels like the right place for newcomers to start paying attention. In the old days we’d probably just call it beating the sophomore slump but choke enough is special enough it’s hard to begrudge it its chosen status.

The record’s sound and tone, adroitly crafted and specific, took an international crew to put it together. Along with Oklou herself, writing and production is split between Canadians Casey MC and Cecile Believe (the former long her main creative partner) and the UK’s Danny L Harle and AG Cook (both associated with seminal hyperpop label PC Music). Meanwhile Swedish underground cloud rap star Bladee (the second e is also silent) and American hyperpop ARG auteur underscores both guests, on “take me by the hand” and “harvest sky” respectively. Some of the pedigrees here, and Oklou’s past work with Caroline Polachek, might suggest her own work falls under hyperpop (and given the relative looseness of the genre, that might even be accurate) but there’s absolutely nothing “hyper” about these songs. Even the production on the relatively maximalist “harvest sky” sounds more like you’re hearing Eurodance from the next room over, and the brooding calm of opener “endless” is a much better indicator of choke enough’s general vibe.

The contemplative, ethereal atmosphere these songs float in is carefully managed; they are largely drumless (although not rhythmless), occasionally verge on an orchestral feel that draws on Oklou’s younger years playing classical cello and manage to successfully incorporate sounds that might seem disruptive to that mood (trumpet and birdsong like elements both appear on multiple tracks). There’s also an emotional and existential intensity to the lyrics and Oklou’s charmingly reticent vocal performance. Songs here are about using the internet to observe the world when confronting oneself is too difficult, about being less eloquent yourself than your work is, about the heedless joy of chasing an ice cream truck and of being so in the moment you almost crash your car. She wrestles with being lonely in the middle of a dancing crowd, and with the question of what we do with our lives. “plague dogs,” inspired by both the ending of the titular novel and a televised seaside police chase, ends with her musing “keep my dreams on the horizon / and I will never really know if I’m being chased.” And yet choke enough feels more like an artist forging her way towards self knowledge than one haunted by the vagaries of life.

To the extent that there’s a resolution, it’s more sonic than emotional. The lovely “blade bird” and its lilting, hooky chorus starts like it’s going to be a simple acoustic ballad (with the only noticeable guitar, and eventually the most prominent beat, on the record). Musically it’s absolutely a highlight, but as various elements swoop and slide in and out, it also becomes clear that it’s describing with clear-eyed despair a basic incompatibility in wants or needs: “you are what you are, and I feel like a cage.” The song ends without either a solution or a collapse, just two people in a tension that cannot be sustained. It’s a compelling end to an impressive debut; whether the next batch of Oklou material will be another album or a mixtape, it’ll be worth watching for.

Ian Mathers

[groovesnjams]

"CUT MY HEART OUT" by daine

DV:

At first I wondered why "CUT MY HEART OUT" sounded so Charli-esque, but looking at the producer credits clarified: Marcus Andersson worked with Rina Sawayama and Ashnikko; Casey MQ has done a bunch of songs with Dorian Electra. Of course this sounds like Charli - and specifically Charli's work with SOPHIE - because all the rest of them do too. It's been three years since SOPHIE's tragic death and you still can't miss the influence of the work SOPHIE left behind, solo but especially with Charli. And this makes sense! Their work was visionary and unmistakable; I may not have loved it but I respected it. But that means that when I hear second-wave echoes of it now, I wonder why these artists can't push themselves a little harder - it's been three years, surely there's gotta be some path forward. "CUT MY HEART OUT" is catchy as anything off the Vroom Vroom EP and daine is working to say something about heartbreak by using medical terminology, but the production means they mostly sound like they're spooning out someone else's leftovers.

MG:

Making "CUT MY HEART OUT" TikTok length means that the song is totally devoid of depth of any kind. It's got just enough runway to establish a metaphor and then it's gone, a dot on the horizon line. "CUT MY HEART OUT" is actively forgettable as it plays -- the production is a rote hyperpop mass manufacture complete with robotic drums and ersatz glitches and daine's voice is so pitch-shifted they could be literally anyone singing. The only even faint glimmer of something slightly more than lukewarm microwaved leftovers is the vaguely horrific hospital imagery of the second verse, but even there we'd be better served if yeule was the lyricist.

[your-worst-boy]

girl on my throne - oklou (ft. Casey MQ)

Casey's part from the visualizer...🥺

[grrlmusic]

Casey MQ - Later that day, the day before, or the day before that (Deluxe Edition)

[cunumunu]

Falling asleep at the wheel Feeling the weight of nothing else I feel an ocean crumbling This car might have to drive itself Just like a voice that's mumbling Under the hood of its soothing spell Spin me out until I lose control

[cupidschariots]

casey mq

‘later that day…live’ nyc (2024) 🤍

[caramelizeddishsoap]

1. What About Us (oklou cover) - Casey MQ 2. Thankful - Candy Moore 3. Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts - Arctic Monkeys 4. Two Kinds of Right - The Grates 5. Wood Cabin - St Etienne 6. Waking Up In Vegas - Katy Perry 7. Love Her If I Tried - Royal Headache 8. Hard To Explain - The Strokes

[knightofleo]

Oklou | choke enough

If you get choked up now Well, in the morning They will find you on the road

[harlecore]

happy friday everyone!

[yamamiya]

Casey MQ - The Make Believe (feat. Oklou)

[filth-thezine]

job interview next week and feeling fancy