French singer, producer, and DJ Oklou writes dreamy, futuristic pop songs equally influenced by experimental ambient music, trance, and left-field R&B. Releases such as her 2020 mixtape Galore are both soul-searching and escapist, reflecting her emotions and self-discovery journey through mysterious, longing tracks filled with atmospheric synths, electronically altered vocals, and field recordings.
Marylou Mayniel was raised in the countryside of western France, and was classically trained in piano and cello as a youth. Inspired by producers and songwriters like Arca, Palmistry, and James Blake, she began making abstract electronic pop, releasing her debut EP Avril under the name Loumar in 2014, before going by the stage name Oklou. After moving to Paris, she formed an all-female DJ and radio crew called TGAF (These Girls Are on Fiyah). The brief First Tape appeared in 2015, and she collaborated with Casey MQ for the 2017 EP For the Beasts.
She relocated to London and joined the experimental club label/collective NUXXE (Coucou Chloé, Shygirl), and her 2018 EP The Rite Of May included production from Sega Bodega, Bok Bok, and Krampf. Oklou and Krampf additionally created a video game called Zone W/O People and co-wrote its score together. Oklou continued releasing singles, including 2020's "Toyota" (with Flavien Berger) and 2020's two-song A Colors Show, before her debut mixtape Galore appeared through True Panther Sounds. She additionally released official remixes of Caroline Polachek's "Door" and Dua Lipa's "Fever."
