REVIEW: Oh Wonder falls short with repetitive album

Album art for Oh Wonders newest album, No One Else Can Wear Your Crown.

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Album art for Oh Wonder’s newest album, “No One Else Can Wear Your Crown”.

Coming off the high of their 2017 album “Ultralife,” Oh Wonder has gone back to their roots with an emotion-driven new album: “No One Else Can Wear Your Crown.”

As usual, the London pop duo mixes beautiful lofi electronic music with subtle vocals that make you want to grab a cup of tea and sit next to a window on a rainy day.

This album has multiple songs that carry compelling and relatable messages on such topics as mental illness and depression.

In one of the stronger songs in the album, “Hallelujah,” Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht sing about self doubt and finding light in a world that sometimes seems hopeless.

“Some days, I don’t think my mamma thinks I’m good enough to be a superstar, but one day, I will show her I’m a diamond in the rough, I’ll be a superstar.”

The album peaks with “Nothing But You.” This song has some of the most beautiful instrumentals Oh Wonder has ever put out. The mix of light tech beats and heavy saxophone makes an incredible soundscape to accompany Josephine’s voice.

Unfortunately, this song is one of the only refreshing parts of the album, and from the moment you finish “Nothing But You,” the album loses any momentum it gained.

Oh Wonder fails to ever gain any edge outside of the lyrics. Josephine’s voice is so soft that it’s hard for the artists to ever escape the coffee house background vibe that their music seems to have.

We have seen artists like Billie Eilish combat their subtle vocals with incredibly unique instrumentals, but for some reason, Oh Wonder never seems to break free.

Songs like “How It Goes” are ultimately forgettable.

This album will never have a place on your party playlist, and even if it barely makes your study night playlist, I assume it won’t be cherished by fans of bubble pop artists like Ariana Grande.

I am saddened to say it, but this album is going to be overlooked because it lacks uniqueness. Fallowing “Ultralife,” this is particularly dissapointing.

People are going to get bored very quickly by this album, and it will eventually be skipped over.