Okaya Kaya Shares Endearing Synth-Charged Single “Asexual Wellbeing”
Photo by Coco Capitán
The Norwegian-born Kaya Wilkins—under her artist moniker Okay Kaya—has released the latest single from her Jagjaguwar debut, Watch This Liquid Pour Itself, a platonically tender ballad with the wonderful title of “Asexual Wellbeing.”
The synth-driven track draws influence from the unabashedly synthetic feeling of ’80s house, with echoing synth and a pulsing drum pad building the foundation under Wilkins’ voice. With a fantastic deadpan delivery, she lays out her less-than-appealing sex life without shame. “I know sex with me is mediocre,” she sings in the hook, “but I can give you asexual wellbeing.”
The accompanying music video—co-directed by Adinah Dancyger and Wilkins—opens with a close-up shot of a half-eaten hard-boiled egg and only continues to get weirder. In the prelude, Wilkins reads what appears to be a poem called “Moth Juice” before the music kicks off. Through the retro lens of handheld film footage, we’re given unexplained shots of a mannequin hand formed into the “rock on” sign, Kaya applying black-metal makeup to her friends and the three proceeding to dance around crumbled ruins. The video was shot on location in Bornholm, Denmark and holds a distinctly timeless atmosphere throughout.
Instead of clearing up the many questions raised from the surreal music video, Kaya’s description of the project—delivered in free-verse poetry—only rattles our brains more:
