Oh Wonder’s Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht will play the Majestic on June 5.
Sometimes, it’s a good thing to have self-imposed deadlines.
The strategy worked for Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht, the London-based songwriting duo better known to the world as Oh Wonder. Back in late 2014, the pair, virtual unknowns at the time, challenged themselves to write, record and release a song a month for a full year on SoundCloud. Within a few months, their slow-jam piano/electronica had racked up ridiculous numbers of plays, connecting with much of Great Britain and rattling the cages of radio execs and record companies.
“It kept us organized,” says Vander Gucht, calling from New York as she and West prepare for their first full-on North American tour (they’ll play the Majestic on Sunday, June 5). “As a freelance creator, it can be difficult — you don’t have a definitive structure, and there’s nobody there to provide it for you. There’s a certain pressure that goes along with that.”
As it turns out, Oh Wonder’s adventures in DIY ended up turning the standard industry formula on its head, paving the way to international success. Not only did a growing crowd of fans flock to stream each single, but once the duo decided to collect them into a 2015 self-titled debut album — a choice West describes as “an afterthought” — the band’s audience raced to download that, too.
“The traditional way to release an album is all at once, with certain singles getting airplay and the rest of the album basically getting ignored,” says West. “This way, the audience ended up caring about each song. It energized us.”
Anyone who’s wondering whether the duo’s low-key sound, powered by the achingly beautiful swirls of West and Vander Gucht’s vocal harmonies, can fill mid-size and larger theaters — not to mention stages at Bonaroo and the Firefly Festival, both of which Oh Wonder is slated to play later this year — might be in for another surprise.
“Live shows are a whole new ballgame,” says Vander Gucht, adding that the duo will augment the album’s sound with a bassist, a drummer and a light show. West will add guitar to his vocal and piano duties.
“The songs have this new life when we play them live. Our songs are intimate, but they translate really well,” she adds.
And not just from studio to stage. Many of Oh Wonder’s song catalogue centers on finding (and holding onto) connections in a complex world. Stream “Heart Hope” or “White Blood” for some aural proof. And the duo have found their music resonating in such diverse cultures as Amsterdam and the Philippines. So far, three couples have proposed marriage at their shows, which Vander Gucht sees as proof that no matter where you go, people are wrestling with similar practical and emotional problems.
“Oh Wonder has shrunk our universe,” Vander Gucht says.
The songs, meanwhile, keep coming. West and Vander Gucht already have more than enough new material for a second album — during their recent two-month stay in New York, the two wrote a whopping 30 songs. When they finally return to the studio at the end of the year, it’ll be to record the first new music in nearly two years.
“We don’t know what it’ll look like,” says West. “But we’re excited to get back at it.”
