''Oh Wonder'' is the debut studio album by English alt-pop duo
Oh Wonder
Oh Wonder are an English, London-based alt-pop duo consisting of Anthony Vander West (né West) and Josephine Vander West (née Vander Gucht). Since releasing their debut album, they have seen international success with their alt-pop singles. O ...
, self-released on 4 September 2015. The album is the accumulation of singles released monthly throughout 2014–2015, in addition to two unreleased songs.
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
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
. 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.
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
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and g ...
'' hailed the album as "simplistically stunning" and "hauntingly beautiful", while praising the chemistry between Gucht and West. Music critic Abby Jefers described the albums creation story as “unique” and the music as “astounding.” Marcus Floyd of
Renowned for Sound
''Renowned for Sound'' is an Australian online magazine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a pri ...
described the album as "airy" and "refreshing."
Usage in media
The song "All We Do" is featured in the opening credits of the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
crime drama ''
Unforgotten
''Unforgotten'' is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cas ...
'', at the end of the "Miss Taken" episode of the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
drama ''
Elementary
Elementary may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001
* ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007
* ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977
Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...
'', in an episode of ITV's ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
'', and in the 2015
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
American slasher horror series
''Scream''. ''Scream'' also featured the song "Shark" in season 1 episode 2, and "Technicolor Beat" in season 1 episode 5. The song "Drive" was used in the pilot episode of the 2015
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. “White Blood" was featured in season 3, episode 2 of
'', as well as retaining some of the original vocals, so Oh Wonder are credited as featured artists on the song.