"Lightness and softness," Marylou Mayniel acknowledges, are the definitive elements of the songs she records under the name Oklou.

The 31-year-old Paris-based producer makes music that uses ambient sounds in pop-song format; employing electronic programming, but rarely drums, in tunes that feel high, bright and soft.

Mayniel has followed up her first Oklou full-length, 2020's great Galore, with her first official studio album, Choke Enough.

On The International Pop Underground with Anthony Carew, Mayniel talks about her unique production approach, her classical upbringing, her early solo days on Soundcloud, the seminal inspiration of the PC Music collective, and the ongoing influence of Romantic composers.

"I think my past in classical music has has a direct [influence] on the way I conduct, the way I record and work on my instrumentation," she offers.

"I'm very inspired by classical choral music from the beginning of the 20th century. The Romantic era. The music is very expressive, it's very light, it's very airy. The themes are clouds and nature and ocean. The king of that is Debussy. I guess that's where I take the lightness and the softness from."

Feature image: Gil Gharbi