The title of Okay Kaya's first album, Both, implied fluidity and multiplicity, themes that are expanded upon further with her latest LP, Watch This Liquid Pour Itself.
Self-described as "Sade for nihilists," this collection of minimal, jazz-inflected songs shows that Okay Kaya is not afraid to embrace the mundane ugliness of everyday life. With plaintively delivered lines like "Netflix and yeast infection / I know sex with me is mediocre," and "I'll be the crust in your eye," Okay Kaya transforms bodily discomfort into soft poetry.
Yet a sense of anxiety pervades the album, sharpening the corners of these dreamy lullabies — guttural noises, references to libido-dulling pills and parasites, the fear that "anything can happen at any given time." At times, she sounds nearly cheerful while looking forward to attending AA meetings at 30 in "Guttural Sounds" and being institutionalized in "Psych Ward."
Sleigh bells, pulsing synths, and robust bass frame her deep, breathy voice as she sing-talks through tales of vegan peanut butter chocolate ice cream, "icy spicy dirty looks," and being jet-lagged and in love. This odd, emotionally varied collection of songs embraces the fluidity of sexuality and gender, yet acknowledges that finding a stable, strong connection with another person remains an anxiety-inducing task.
(Jagjaguwar)Self-described as "Sade for nihilists," this collection of minimal, jazz-inflected songs shows that Okay Kaya is not afraid to embrace the mundane ugliness of everyday life. With plaintively delivered lines like "Netflix and yeast infection / I know sex with me is mediocre," and "I'll be the crust in your eye," Okay Kaya transforms bodily discomfort into soft poetry.
Yet a sense of anxiety pervades the album, sharpening the corners of these dreamy lullabies — guttural noises, references to libido-dulling pills and parasites, the fear that "anything can happen at any given time." At times, she sounds nearly cheerful while looking forward to attending AA meetings at 30 in "Guttural Sounds" and being institutionalized in "Psych Ward."
Sleigh bells, pulsing synths, and robust bass frame her deep, breathy voice as she sing-talks through tales of vegan peanut butter chocolate ice cream, "icy spicy dirty looks," and being jet-lagged and in love. This odd, emotionally varied collection of songs embraces the fluidity of sexuality and gender, yet acknowledges that finding a stable, strong connection with another person remains an anxiety-inducing task.