We’ve been looking forward to Oh Wonder’s debut album for a while now. We’ve been big fans of their unique brand of minimalist electro-pop since the day we laid ears on them, and the South-East London duo’s habit of releasing a new single from the album every month since last September has only served to further whet our appetite. Oh Wonder isn’t going to be a smash-hit album, but it just might be one of our favourite albums of the year so far.
The duo has managed to put together a delicate and very listenable collection of minimalist pop that does a great job of encompassing the broad spectrum of human emotion. It’s an album for late nights. It is not one for listening deeply to, nor for playing over and over again. The songs lead the two vocalists towards each other, with the duo choosing to keep their vocals separated by an octave, rather than experimenting and branching out with harmonies and layers.
Josephine and Anthony’s voices melt together hypnotisingly, coating you with their reflective warmth. Their voices could go somewhere much more powerful, yet they purposefully hold back. It’s thoughtful, and even tantalising at times, but part of us is desperate to hear what it’s like when they really let rip.
Each track is artfully and meticulously put together. The authentic acoustic piano sounds and the unaltered vocals that sound like they were captured in their East London living room contrast perfectly against the album’s wide array of wonderfully engineered synths and drums. It’s not one for repeated listening, but for warm, frothy, slow-jam late-night listening, Oh Wonder will be the album you’re looking for.