Bokito recently released their new single ‘OkOk’.
The new track from the London trio is a funk layered sonic treat that we quickly left on repeat to uplift our day.
Speaking of the single, vocalist Moses Moorhouse explained: “’OKOK’ is about pushing people away who don’t give you exactly what you want and subsequently losing them. Be it friendships, partnerships, even family, we all have a history of doing it. Ben Jackson produced the track and did an amazing job capturing the fragility and insecurity in it. For me, this is the type of song I want to make.”
To celebrate the single release, we caught up with the band to discover 5 tracks that influenced their latest single.
Tame Impala – Let It Happen | Listen via Spotify
Joe Mashiter (Guitarist): I think we were all really into Tame Impala at the time. The use of synths and different sounds is really quite unique on this album and I think it seeped into our sound to an extent. There are also some interesting structural ideas on this album and this song is a good example of that. As with ‘OkOk’ the middle 8 just becomes its own thing and doesn’t return to a verse or chorus as is the convention, rather it uses motifs established in the main part of the song to build into something different and musically quite compelling.
Air – La femme d’argent | Listen via Spotify
Jody Lahart (Bass): I think subconsciously this song influenced ‘OkOk’, the slow steady build and ambient synth is definitely something we wanted to create.
Vitamin C – Can | Listen via Spotify
Moses Moorhouse (Vocals): The sudden and urgency to the bursts of passion in this song has always been something that gets my gears going! It perfectly replicates the gradual loss of one’s sanity! With ‘OkOk’, the biggest task was matching the multiple themes consistently. This definitely was something that we went for with the songwriting aspect. Making sure the music and themes fit as best as we could.
Radiohead – Knives Out | Listen via Spotify
Joe: I love the guitar sound in this track and I very much tried to emulate this tone in the chorus of ‘OkOk’. Johnny Greenwood is a huge influence on my playing and I think this track is a great example of how clean, picked out guitar chords can add a haunting, chiming flavour to a track. Taken from the album ‘Amnesiac’, this is a gem of a song that has an onomatopoeic quality to it, with the somewhat piercing nature of the guitar line.
Usher – Climax | Listen via Spotify
Moses: I have always been enamoured by the genius of this song’s production. The whole idea of the song constantly building up but never actually reaching the titular ‘climax’ is so fascinating. We obviously went an entirely different route with this song as there is very much a big ‘bang slap-bang wallop’ but there was definitely an influence from my side of what a song could achieve from its subtleties.
You can listen to Bokito ‘OkOk’ via Spotify below: