Credit: Boom Records LLC
OXY
[By: pluko]
Genre: House, Future bass
Rating: 60
Cohesiveness: 62
Track quality: 65
Beginner-friendly? somewhat
Written 2025/07/22
A collection of bitesized tunes, "OXY" (or "OXY*") is another pluko album made for the emotions of the Internet.
Although, to be fair, "OXY" as an album is by no means bitesized. Standing tall at 21 tracks and 53 minutes of runtime, this record is something of a mammoth project, but it's populated almost entirely by short tracks. With an average track length of just over two and a half minutes, "OXY" is an album that continually jumps from track to melodic track, and yet the mood always remains consistent. If there's one thing pluko is good at, it's the style present here — a melodic infusion of trap and house, with elements of hyperpop and plenty of layered sound design — and for 53 minutes straight, that style is present. Now, this is great if you're looking for a pick-me-up record — particularly with pluko's everpresent vocal chipping in — but not so great if you're looking for anything even slightly more forensic. I'll be the first to admit, though, that pluko's sound design is impeccable. Everything feels intentionally mixed and well-layered, positing generally high quality production across the large majority of this tracklist, with some impressive sound design in parts and some big techno-esque kicks to power the otherwise slower sections. But it's just not enough — or, more accurately, it's just not varied enough. "OXY" starts off very strong, but when pluko begins to return to the same production motifs or vocal styles for the second, third, fourth time, things begin to fall apart. And with the tracks being so short, it's almost inevitable that more than a couple of them are completely missed during a listen, fading into the all-too-similar tracks around it to morph into nothing more than mere filler. The house-leaning tracks are, perhaps, the biggest offender, especially towards the end of the album, but even the trap/future bass cuts can fall a little flat; not to mention the vocals. It's not even that pluko is exploring some abstract concept or scrutinizing some deeply rooted emotions — no, most of the lyricism on "OXY" is surprisingly superficial and and misses yet another opportunity in a series of missed opportunities to give this album some depth. There are so many high-quality elements, and still, "OXY" remains quite a surface level album.
I don't mind pluko's vocal all that much, but after 53 minutes of jumping through the same hoops, it does start to get pretty tiring. That combined with repetitive sampling leaves just the production to add some flair, and occasionally it does, but oftentimes the tracks blend together. "OXY" ends up being a bit of a slog to get through, but if you turn your brain off and just vibe, you'll still most likely have a pretty good time. Funny, that — paying attention leaves you bored, but being unengaged leaves you weirdly, well, engaged.
Listen on Spotify here.
RISE [Standout] | (/100)
Nice atmospheric intro with a techno drop section that feels very full with its big kicks and vocal chopping
NEW FEELINGS [Melodic] | (/100)
Overblown. sparkly mix that feels quite sharp but adds a lot to the vocal, even if the trap tropes are a bit offputting
HIGHERTHANUUU [Upbeat] | (/100)
Smooth bassline is clean over the house beat, and the vocals layed over that are pretty solid too
STUTTER [Standout] | (/100)
The vocal is nothing crazy but there's some pretty sick dynamic production on this beat, namely the meaty growls
FALLING [Emotive] | (/100)
Almost missed this tune because it's got basically the same vocal, but has some nice techno parts
TALK2ME [Melodic] | (/100)
w/ Jukaa
Big explosive synthwork, big trap subs, and a lot of autotune, a combination that's beginning to get a little repetitive
LET GO [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Sublab
Main synth lead and vocal that progresses very well into a rich, bassline-infused house finale
SLEEPNOMORE [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Devault
I'd actually say the vocal is the highlight here but the complementing production is kind of boring
STAY [Melodic] | (/100)
Slightly longer with quite repetitive, superficial lyricism, there is some sense of progression but nothing crazy
CALL TOMORROW [Laid-back] | (/100)
Another tune I almost missed, more of a laid-back atmospheric one with a main boppy movement in the middle
SEE YOU AGAIN [Melodic] | (/100)
Creative tune slapped in the middle with some nice stuttery elements and vocal toying
LEAVING [Intense] | (/100)
Takes ages to get through its runtime but does hit at the end with a pretty sweet hybrid-trap-leaning drop
TOO LOUD [Melodic] | (/100)
w/ Aloboi
Fairly repetitive with the sample and the big kicks in the production, not too bad of a tune and the synthwork is cool
TIL NOTHING [Standout] | (/100)
Some weird vocal chops and mostly beatless production; not ambient though, the mix gets quite packed
BITE [Fun] | (/100)
Pretty fun bass house tune with a full lead, mindlessly danceable and energetic enough to get you moving
KNOW ME [Intense] | (/100)
Really short tune with an obnoxiously massive trap sub and some short rap verses from pluko
6- FI 0001 2024-08-08 125827 [Atmospheric] | (/100)
Love the progression on this one, a really cool ambient tune with some great synths and an immersive atmosphere
I FEEL STRANGE [Upbeat] | (/100)
Another happy-go-lucky house-leaning tune that has a stronger vocal performance but comparatively weaker production
ISITWHATYOUWANTED [Upbeat] | (/100)
Feels like a very similar track to the one above with the upbeat house and equally upbeat vocal
OK YES [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Reo Cragun
The overblown future bass production is pretty cool actually but the repetitive vocal sample is kind of annoying
RUNAWAY [Upbeat] | (/100)
A great finisher to this project, fun house tune that feels full and well-executed across its 3 minutes
- STUTTER (/100)
- 6- FI 0001 2024-08-08 125827 (/100)
- RISE (/100)
- LET GO w/ Sublab (/100)
- HIGHERTHANUUU (/100)
- SEE YOU AGAIN (/100)
- NEW FEELINGS (/100)
- BITE (/100)
- RUNAWAY (/100)
- SLEEPNOMORE w/ Devault (/100)
- TALK2ME w/ Jukaa (/100)
- TIL NOTHING (/100)
- I FEEL STRANGE (/100)
- TOO LOUD w/ Aloboi (/100)
- OK YES w/ Reo Cragun (/100)
- FALLING (/100)
- LEAVING (/100)
- CALL TOMORROW (/100)
- STAY (/100)
- ISITWHATYOUWANTED (/100)
- KNOW ME (/100)