Brilliantly entertaining, Oh Wonder have produced another iconic music video, this time in the style of a mockumentary – their original take conveying (in a humorous light) the idea of moving on from a breakup and being happy for that person. And so in the case of the music video – the break-up is that of the band, and of them as a couple – their “split” (for its only fictional) being something that neither they, nor their fans wanted.
“Oh, I never thought I’d be happy to see you with somebody new”
Although not sung in the style of an anthem, or power-ballad-inducing melody, its sincerity is more in tune with reality, and strikingly familiar as people put on a brave face when breaking up. But instead of being down in the dumps about it, they take the glass is half-full approach in being both happy for their ex, whilst in the case of the video, being even happier for themselves – their fake solo albums respectively called “The Divine Departure” and “Better Than Her.”
“You’re holding someone close
Should hurt, somehow it don’t
I guess that’s how I know I’ve finally let you go”
Meanwhile the lyrics tell of how they’ve survived seeing their ex with someone else, but they’re okay, they’re genuinely happy for them even – meaning that they too are now happy.
In having such a tongue-in-cheek video with an interesting and fully-filled content, you’ll need to watch it more than once to see everything. The emotionally-charged lyrics fitting wonderfully to the music video, though it does run the risk of having a line or two missed by the listener. This is due to a disconnect between reading the video’s subtitles (the narration having been turned off as the music begins) and listening to the song’s track, with it being hard to read, listen and watch different content at the same time. To try combat this, the mockumentary merges at times with the song’s lyrics, whether in the form of lip-syncing, as in the case of their “individual video productions,” or at a karaoke booth, a eulogy speech or at a retirement gig. Not surprisingly the video breaks a wall or two in the psychedelic-hippiness of its story.
Set in the future, the now much older duo of Oh Wonder (thanks to the heavily applied magic of makeup) reminisce on their time together, and in particular the band’s breakup in 2020 to pursue very different directions – cults, plant recordings etc. What’s interesting though is that when glancing back to our current time of 2020 it has instead a very retro 70’s-80’s feel – a period in fact where many fantastic bands broke apart.
Thankfully though, Oh Wonder look set to continue their unique concepts and action-packed deliveries for many a year to come. The alt-pop duo; Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West having first begun their bubble-gum flavour with their debut album Oh Wonder in 2015 – it’s completion marking the end of a challenge in which to produce one new song a month for a year – their uploads making them a viral sensation, and in thanks they gave a few extra songs for the album – making it a fifteen-track collection of pop-pleasure.
Cheery, light and with a love-of-love, Oh Wonder understands the human heart and how best to lift it up. So leave them to do the hard work and let the world’s worries melt away to their tunes.
Other songs by Oh Wonder we love:
- Fuck It I Love You (2022 – 22 Make)
- Don’t You Worry (2020 – Home Tapes [EP])
- Lonely Star (2020 – Home Tapes [EP])
- I Wish I Never Met You (2020 – No One Else Can Wear Your Crown)
- High on Humans (2017 – Ultralife)
- Ultralife (2017 – Ultralife)
- Without You (2015 – Oh Wonder)
Other artists you might like:
- Aquilo
- dodie
- LANY
