London based duo Oh Wonder brought humble magic to a sold-out Lincoln Hall on Thursday.
Oh Wonder has only been making music together since 2014, when they began to write and record one song per month and then uploading the electropop tunes to Soundcloud. They garnered online buzz strong enough to enable them to tour the world. Before long, they had their self-titled debut. While the duo are kind of rookies, there is nothing amateur about their reach—the previous night they got their first taste of U.S late-night television, performing on “Conan.” This is also their first North American tour—and it’s sold-out.
The space of Lincoln Hall lends itself to intimacy, and Oh Wonder took advantage. Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht are a pair of really nice people (and also, textbook pretty): they were smiley throughout the hour-long set, often grabbing a fan’s eye and having a grin bubble up after breaking eye contact. Vander Gucht sang with her eyes wide—in wonder, if you’d tolerate a bad pun.
In a sparkling, New Years Eve party dress, Vander Gucht went on a monologue, saying “You are individual, everybody else is everybody else,” and to realize your “dazzling” resolutions. The sprout of positivity preceded “All We Do,” a smooth, whispery piano track damning monotony. It was emotionally evocative to much of the crowd, as the sing-a-long got louder, more fervent. Vander Gucht sang to a girl in the front row who must have been moved to tears, as Vander Gucht immediately stooped down to hug her after the song’s end.
Oh Wonder’s debut effort is suave, purple neon feeling, and aesthetically pleasing. The album itself, while a continuously hazy dream, could be heard as one-noted. Their live performance brought their music to a heightened dimension. Now dynamic, each tune stood out from the previous with a cool groove. “Midnight Moon” was performed acoustically, with the two added band players stepping off to the side to let Vander Gucht’s sickly sweet voice ebb across the venue. Call electropop only a music fad and an acoustic direction would be feasible for this duo, but that would lose the thunderous gratification of synths.
The duo’s buzz just can’t be chalked up to a temporary viral hit: The majority of the crowd already knew all of the lyrics and sang along enthusiastically. “Landslide” had people singing like the lyrics were ripped from their personal Tumblr post. The joy was genuine and organic. Yet while a chunk of tunes have uplifting themes of love, there was a touch of melancholy, near sadness, threaded throughout that gave the set an added uneasy depth.
Their gratitude and humility to be performing on Lincoln Hall’s stage was refreshing. Oh Wonder is poised to move beyond intimate venues, carrying with them warm flows of music. They promised to be back in Chicago soon, hinting towards a “certain summer music festival.” Take that to be a Lollapalooza announcement.