Review | Alt-pop sensations Oh Wonder’s second album is stuffed with hooks and sunshine
The London duo, who play Kitec on Friday, have broadened their jubilant sound with a dash of hip-hop.
Oh Wonder
Ultralife
Island
On a world tour that will bring them to Kitec, in Kowloon, on August 4, alt-pop sensations Oh Wonder will be in high spirits as they celebrate their second release. Following on from their 2015 debut, which gathered a year’s worth of songs, each recorded over a month and then released, Ultralife was preceded by the release of seven new songs, at fortnightly intervals. The London-based duo of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony Westappear to be more confident in their ability to write catchy tunes now, and the album has more than its fair share of pop hooks. Built around a simple snare and squiggly synth beat, Heavy is a weighty slab of electro funkiness, as Vander Gucht teases: “We can get heavy on it all night, shoot to the sky until we’re too bright” with a hushed sexiness. Lifetimes sees the duo expand their jubilant pop sound with a strong hip hop vibe and, like the album’s sunshine-soaked title track, the radio-friendly melody is one of many infectious winners.
