Oh Wonder are an English,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-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. Oh Wonder recorded and released one song a month for a year, starting in September 2014. All of the songs were released together as a self-titled debut album on 4 September 2015. On 14 July 2017, the duo released their second album, '' Ultralife''. On 12 February 2020, they released their third album, '' No One Else Can Wear Your Crown''. On 8 October 2021, the now-married duo released their fourth studio album, ''22 Break''. All four albums were written, recorded, produced, and mixed by the duo and have seen cross-platform success. The band played sold-out shows in London, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles one week after their debut album release, which marked the beginning of their touring career. They have since played multiple headline shows and festivals in numerous countries.

History

Formation and early years

Before Oh Wonder was formed, Vander Gucht was a solo artist, first going by her own name and later under the alias LAYLA. Anthony West was originally part of the groups Tonight Is Goodbye, Futures, and We the Wild. The two first met in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

on 21 March 2010, when West was in the audience at one of Vander Gucht's solo gigs. A year later, Vander Gucht attended one of West's gigs, talked with him, and they began writing songs and making music together. The duo released their first two songs under the name Wonder Wonder but changed it to Oh Wonder when they learned of another band with a similar name.

2014–2016: ''Oh Wonder''

Oh Wonder had an unorthodox approach to releasing their eponymous debut album, '' Oh Wonder''. Over the course of a year, the duo released one new single each month, beginning 1 September 2014, having written, produced, and mixed each song in their home studio in London. These monthly installations culminated in the 2015 release of that first album, which also included two previously unreleased songs. The record reached number 26 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, number 16 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and number 80 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. '' Oh Wonder'' has sold over one million copies worldwide (the first-ever album to do so on an independent label) and has been certified Gold in the UK, Canada,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, China,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, and Platinum in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Oh Wonder gave their debut live performance for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1 ...

, after receiving avid support from BBC Introducing and DJs Huw Stephens and Greg James. The band's first TV performance was on '' Conan'', which aired in the US on 20 January 2016. They performed their single "Lose It". Since their debut album release, Oh Wonder has toured internationally in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Sweden,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Their performance in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

was their first show in Asia. They also toured as the opening act on the final installment of the

Badlands Tour The Badlands Tour was the first headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Halsey (singer), Halsey, launched in support of her debut album, ''Badlands (Halsey album), Badlands'' (2015). The tour began on September 30, 2015 at the House ...

with Halsey from 21 July to 12 August 2016. Their 2016 debut festival appearances included

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

, Firefly, and Lollapalooza music festivals in the United States, in addition to Live Out in Monterrey, WayHome Festival in Oro-Medonte, Canada, and Electric Picnic in

Stradbally Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, a National Secondary Route, about from Portlaoise. It is a townland, a civil parish and historic barony. It is known for its "Steam Ra ...

, Ireland.

2016–2018: ''Ultralife''

On 30 March 2017, Oh Wonder announced that they'd finished their second studio album, to be titled '' Ultralife''. The record's lead track, "Ultralife", was released the day after. As with their previous album, the group released new singles every two weeks in the run-up to the album's publication. The duo embarked on the Ultralife World Tour in 2017, which saw them play a long run of headline shows in 34 countries across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. They also played three shows with Beck on his 2018 North America Tour.

2019–2020: ''No One Else Can Wear Your Crown'' and ''Home Tapes''

On 5 September 2019, Oh Wonder released "Hallelujah", the first single from their upcoming album, followed by "Better Now" on 25 October and "I Wish I Never Met You" on 14 November. The same day, they announced via Twitter that the album, titled '' No One Else Can Wear Your Crown'', would be released on 7 November. This was followed by the singles "This Christmas", "Happy", and "In and Out of Love". As part of the press coverage around their third album, Vander Gucht and West revealed they were in a relationship and had been for the past seven years. The pair were to embark on a tour to support ''No One Else Can Wear Your Crown'' throughout Europe and North America in March 2020; however, the latter part of the tour, including the entirety of the North American segment, was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Whilst subject to the 2020 UK "stay at home" restrictions related to the novel coronavirus, Oh Wonder released a series of new tracks on an EP titled ''Home Tapes''.

2021: ''22 Break''

On 22 September 2021, Oh Wonder announced their fourth studio album, ''22 Break'', and released the eponymous title track. Described by the duo as "maybe the first break-up album in history written and recorded with the person you're breaking up with", the album documents their near-split in 2020 during the

and their time away from touring. The record was released to critical acclaim on 8 October 2021, alongside a visual film featuring music from the album.

2022: ''22 Make''

On 7 October 2022, Oh Wonder released a sequel album to ''22 Break'' as a celebration of their relationship.

NOLA Coffee

Oh Wonder run a coffee shop named NOLA Coffee, located in the London district of Peckham. "NOLA is an embodiment of all their favourite experiences of cafes around the world distilled into one beautiful space".

Discography

Studio albums

EP

* ''Home Tapes'' (2020)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Featured appearances

Songwriting and production credits

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2014 English musical duos Island Records artists Male–female musical duos 2014 establishments in England Dew Process artists English pop music groups Electronic music duos English electronic music duos English pop music duos English synth-pop groups British indie pop groups