Oh Wonder (album)

Oh Wonder is the debut studio album by English alt-pop duo Oh Wonder, self-released on 4 September 2015.[1] The album is the accumulation of singles released monthly throughout 2014–2015, in addition to two unreleased songs.

Oh Wonder
Studio album by
Oh Wonder
Released4 September 2015 (2015-09-04)
Recorded2014–2015
Genre
Length52:23
Label
Oh Wonder chronology
Oh Wonder
(2015)		 Ultralife
(2017)
Singles from Oh Wonder
  1. "Body Gold"
    Released: 1 September 2014
  2. "Shark"
    Released: 1 October 2014
  3. "Dazzle"
    Released: 1 November 2014
  4. "All We Do"
    Released: 1 December 2014
  5. "The Rain"
    Released: 1 January 2015
  6. "Lose It"
    Released: 1 February 2015
  7. "Technicolour Beat"
    Released: 1 March 2015
  8. "Midnight Moon"
    Released: 1 April 2015
  9. "Livewire"
    Released: 1 May 2015
  10. "White Blood"
    Released: 1 June 2015
  11. "Landslide"
    Released: 1 July 2015
  12. "Drive"
    Released: 1 August 2015
  13. "Heart Hope"
    Released: 1 September 2015
  14. "Without You"
    Released: 4 September 2015
  15. "Plans"
    Released: 4 September 2015

Background

Starting in September 2014, Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht wrote, recorded, and released one song on the first of every month for a year on SoundCloud. They have described the creation and release of their debut album as nontraditional, stating that the album consists of 15 singles and was never conceived as an entire record. The debut album consisted of all 13 songs, as well as 2 additional songs, "Without You" and "Plans". The album was written, produced, and mixed by West and Vander Gucht in their home studio in South-East London in 2014–2015.[2]

The album has sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide (it was the first-ever album to sell 1 million copies on an independent label) and has amassed in excess of 1.5 billion streams. It has been certified gold in the UK, gold in Canada, and platinum in both Russia and the Philippines.

Critical reception

Oh Wonder received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Serena Weiss of The Ithacan hailed the album as "simplistically stunning" and "hauntingly beautiful", while praising the chemistry between Gucht and West.[3] Music critic Abby Jefers described the albums creation story as “unique” and the music as “astounding.”[4] Marcus Floyd of Renowned for Sound described the album as "airy" and "refreshing."[5]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Guardian[7]
Renowned for Sound[8]
The Ithacan[9]

Usage in media

The song "All We Do" is featured in the opening credits of the ITV crime drama Unforgotten, at the end of the "Miss Taken" episode of the CBS drama Elementary, in an episode of ITV's Coronation Street, in the 2015 MTV American slasher horror series Scream, as well as in Episode 4 of the 2020 Australian crime drama Halifax:Retribution.[10] Scream also featured the song "Shark" in season 1 episode 2, and "Technicolor Beat" in season 1 episode 5.[11] The song "Drive" was used in the pilot episode of the 2015 BBC drama Doctor Foster. “White Blood" was featured in season 3, episode 2 of The CW drama Reign.[12] The first verse of the song "Landslide" was sampled in rapper Lil Uzi Vert's song "The Way Life Goes" from their album Luv Is Rage 2, as well as retaining some of the original vocals, so Oh Wonder are credited as featured artists on the song.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West

No.TitleLength
1."Livewire"3:24
2."Body Gold"3:05
3."Technicolour Beat"3:00
4."Drive"3:16
5."Lose It"3:50
6."Landslide"3:28
7."White Blood"4:17
8."Without You"3:45
9."The Rain"2:54
10."Dazzle"3:07
11."All We Do"3:34
12."Midnight Moon"3:31
13."Shark"3:07
14."Heart Hope"4:09
15."Plans"3:59
Total length:52:23

Charts
Chart (2015–16) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 56
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 55
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 135
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[17] 19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 50
Irish Albums (IRMA)[19] 54
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 87
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 26
US Billboard 200[22] 80

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[23] Gold 40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Gold 100,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Oh Wonder". MusicBrainz. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  2. "Oh Wonder caps off an electric debut tour". Boston Globe. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. Weiss, Serena. "Review: Oh Wonder stuns with debut album | The Ithacan". theithacan.org. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  4. Jeffers, Abby (9 January 2016). "Album Review: Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder". Indientry. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  5. Floyd, Marcus. "Album Review: Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder – Renowned For Sound". Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  6. Donelson, Marcy. Oh Wonder Oh Wonder > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. Mokoena, Tshepo (3 September 2015). "Oh Wonder: Oh Wonder review – a breathy synthpop debut". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. Floyd, Marcus (5 September 2015). "Album Review: Oh Wonder - Oh Wonder". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  9. Weiss, Serena. "Review: Oh Wonder stuns with debut album | The Ithacan". theithacan.org. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  10. Jantz, Ryan (14 July 2015). "Music from Scream: Season 1, Episode 3". MTV Soundtrack. MTV. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  11. "Oh Wonder - List of Songs heard in Movies & TV Shows". What-song. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  12. "Oh Wonder - List of Songs heard in Movies & TV Shows". What-song. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  13. Mech, Chris. "Lil Uzi Vert Samples A London Indie Duo On His New Song "The Way Life Goes"". Genius. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  14. Ryan, Gavin (12 September 2015). "ARIA Albums: Troye Sivan 'Wild' EP Debuts At No 1". Noise11. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  15. "Ultratop.be – Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  16. "Ultratop.be – Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  17. "Oh Wonder - Chart history: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  19. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 37, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  20. "Swisscharts.com – Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  21. September 2015/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  22. "Oh Wonder - Chart history: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  23. "Canadian album certifications – Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder". Music Canada. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  24. "British album certifications – Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
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