Wide Awake: CD

Anyone familiar with electronic music will know Mechatok, aka Emir Timur Tokdemir. He made his name touring globally and releasing a series of records and collaborations with some of the most forward-thinking artists of the past decade, from Drain Gang (Bladee, Ecco2k, Whitearmor, Thaiboy Digital) to Charli XCX to Lorenzo Senni. Often subtle in delivery, these works circulated widely across underground and adjacent mainstream scenes, subtly shaping the direction of experimental pop and club music.

Tokdemir treats Mechatok as a kind of fictionalization experiment—an avatar that allows him to explore new facets of himself and brings a sense of openness and freedom to the creative process. He cites artists like Daft Punk and Gorillaz as inspirations: timeless figures who turned the concept of the artistic project itself into an artwork.

After years of honing his sound as Mechatok, Tokdemir is stepping up to share Wide Awake, his kaleidoscopic debut solo album. The record crystallizes a journey that is entirely his own, establishing Mechatok not just as a standout collaborator, but as an undeniable solo artist fully in command of his vision. Through the Mechatok persona, he accesses forms of expression that feel paradoxically more intimate - and more timeless.

Everything on Wide Awake is tied together by a playful yet deeply intuitive sonic palette and a set of core, haiku-like lyrical themes. The album poses questions about the possibility of authenticity and the status of self-expression in the context of algorithmic flattening. Mechatok declines to propose utopian solutions and chooses instead to live with strange ambiguities, tapping their generative potential.

Featuring Bladee, Ecco2k, Isabella Lovestory, Tohji, and others, Wide Awake spans a wide emotional and stylistic spectrum while remaining filtered through Tokdemir’s precise vision. The result shines as a meticulously crafted electronic pop opus; a collection of addictive, personal mantras, fragments that feel at once fleeting and enduring.