For Oh Wonder, pandemic isolation wasn’t a shocking lifestyle pivot — it was business as usual.
The London-based duo of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West were already hunkered down in their home studio before COVID-19 forced the rest of the world indoors. That creative space became the epicenter of a new project called Home Tapes, a series of songs written and recorded in near real-time as a response to the strange new world around them. “We’ve kind of been in training for this for five years,” says Vander Gucht with a laugh.
Talking with Kyle Meredith, the two explain how Home Tapes is a natural extension of how they made their 2020 album No One Else Can Wear Your Crown — writing and recording in a fluid, immediate cycle. “We’re demo artists,” says West. “A lot of the vocals on the album are demo takes we couldn’t top. When the emotion’s right, why redo it?”
The quick turnaround of Home Tapes is also a response to the delayed gratification so many artists endure — recording songs and shelving them for a year or more. “I don’t know how people live with a song for eight years before putting it on a record,” says Vander Gucht. “If you’ve gone with your gut, that should be enough.”
The first track from the series, Lonely Star, is a quiet anthem of universal disconnection. Written during lockdown, its chorus — “I’m a lonely star, is there anybody out there?” — offers gentle reassurance that everyone is floating through the same cosmic weirdness. “We wanted to remind people they’re not alone in feeling that way,” she adds.
But this reflective headspace didn’t begin with a pandemic — it began with burnout. After being thrust into a whirlwind two-year tour following their debut, the band found themselves exhausted and creatively depleted. “We needed to forget we were even in a band,” West says.
So they built a studio. Nested at home. Took a beat. And then came Crown, an album that channels rediscovery and self-empowerment — especially in songs like Hallelujah and The Pressure, where Vander Gucht confronts feelings of imposter syndrome and finally allows herself to acknowledge success. “It’s one thing to achieve your dream,” she says. “It’s another to recognize that you’ve achieved it.”
The pandemic forced them to shelve touring plans, which leaves the album feeling like the kid who didn’t get enough attention. But in typical Oh Wonder fashion, they’re already looking ahead. “Maybe when we do finally get to play it live,” says West, “it’ll be even more special.”
And in the meantime, Home Tapes offers a glimpse of a band who’s found peace in immediacy — in committing to the moment, flaws and all. “Art without a listener is meaningless,” Vander Gucht says. “So even if it’s 80%, get it out. That’s where the magic is.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below.
