STACK Aug #154

MUSIC NEWS

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OH WONDER JosephineVander Gucht and AnthonyWest are OhWonder; we asked them about the alt-(lolly) pop goodness of breakout album Ultralife .

You’ve said you initially released songs on SoundCloud with the intention of pitching them to other artists. How did you navigate out of the old approach (that you were going to let your babies go to someone else) and into the new (keeping the babies)? The first album began as a writing project so our own personal lives aren't really reflected back in any of those first 15 songs. We wrote Ultralife however, in the midst of a mammoth touring schedule, which was simultaneously incredible and difficult. Touring is a bizarre, one-of-a-kind experience; you get the depression, and you get the adrenaline – you are living both extremes of humanness. And so listening back to Ultralife , we can see us internalising both elements, and battling with the need for independence vs the need for our family and friends back home. So in that way our songwriting is a lot more personal. All the songs start at the piano. We are big believers in the importance of being able to strip a song back and play it with just chords and a melody. The best songs can be peeled back to their core and still translate emotionally. It's very easy to disguise an average song in glittery production. Do all songs begin their lives on the piano, or do you ever begin with beats?

– you can put any kind of production under our dual vocals and it still sounds like us. It's a liberating anchor to work with. We really took advantage of it on this new album, as the consistency of the dual vocals meant we could experiment with different musical styles and production ideas. The term 'ultralife' pops up on Heavy , as well as the album's title track of course. Is it something you’d heard elsewhere, or an original phrase you guys came up with? We came up with it! We've since discovered it's a brand of battery (!) but it popped out whilst we were writing Heavy and we fell in love with it as a concept so then went on to write the song Ultralife . There’s some warping of your voices, in the background, on gorgeous closer Waste . Is the phrase “elf-like words” in this song or did I imagine it to match that little creature melody? You have imagined that! There are no concrete lyrics; it's Anthony losing his mind in the studio. We wanted to play around with our voices a little bit, and Waste was the perfect opportunity to do that. It has so much space. ZKR

The piano chords during the verses of Lifetimes remind me of Elton John’s Bennie AndThe Jets – is he a pianist you guys have ever deliberately thought of as an influence? Elton John is one of our biggest influences! We both grew up on his songs and went to his live concerts as kids, and he was a huge inspiration for the way Josephine learned contemporary piano. In fact, throughout every recording process Anthony always instructs Josephine to “play less like Elton." Elton's style is all about the travelling and the movement and the beautiful little piano melodies that weave their way around the vocal melody. Josephine is in love with Elton’s style, whereas Anthony recognises the occasional need for simple, static chords.

You most often sing in unison on the same note (instead of harmonies), which is an unusual thing. Did you plan it to be a distinctive quality about your music, or did it just unfold that way? It just happened that way! But we have since realised it is a distinguishing feature of our music

Ultralife by Oh Wonder is out now via Dew Process.

TOURING 05/10 - 16/10

T en years ago, two exceptional British voices met whilst performing at the London ColiseumTheatre. A decade of firm friendship on, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe are each seasoned, decorated and adored musical theatre performers in their own rights, but have solidified their musical connection with their first ever joint album. Together includes classics and favourites from the stars' careers, such as Music Of The Night ( Phantom of the Opera ), When You Wish Upon A Star ( Pinocchio ), and You'll Never Walk Alone ( Carousel ). The pair are due in Australia for five colossal dates in October; tickets are on sale now via Live Nation. ZKR BALL & BOE

Together

by Michael Ball and Alfie Boe is out now

via Decca/ Universal.

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AUGUST 2017

jbhifi.com.au

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