Musical duo Oh Wonder are a bit of an indie music ‘sensation’ at the moment, no doubt due to the pair’s eye-catching visual art, their secretive nature, and their knack for creating heartwrenchingly beautiful, beat-driven music. All anyone definitively knew about Oh Wonder on September 1st, 2014 was that, per the artist’s SoundCloud page, they were a “writing duo, releasing one song a month for a year,” and that their first release was a female/male vocal-driven, electro-indie/electro-pop track with delicate, needlework-like production value entitled “Body Glow.”

Listen: “Body Glow” – Oh Wonder

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As promised, the duo continued to release tracks on a monthly basis, following up their debut with the lightly bouncing, minimalistic “Shark” in October, the hip-hop influenced, vocally-effected “Dazzle” in November, and the piano ballad “All We Do” in December. Oh Wonder’s music bore a sonic resemblance to current minimalist-leaning indie pop acts like Lorde and Vancouver Sleep Clinic, but with every passing month, Oh Wonder increasingly came into their own.

Light vocals. Heavy, yet subdued beats. Minimalist piano. A fragile atmosphere, where the music is balanced – never overpowering – and the lyrics always shine through. Each of Oh Wonder’s songs is as colorful and as alluring as a flower’s petal, and while there is a degree of consistency in the band’s instrumentation and production, no two songs are exactly alike.

Listen: “Livewire” – Oh Wonder

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“Livewire” is Oh Wonder’s ninth song release to-date, made available by the band on May 1st. One of their most powerful and chilling songs to date, “Livewire” employs the term for an exposed electric cable as a metaphor for the vulnerability and intimacy of love. This imagery is used to explore the narrator’s personal unavailability, longing, fear, and self-doubt. The duo’s impassioned singing makes listening to “Livewire” a hauntingly beautiful experience.

In addition to the audio, Oh Wonder released a music video for “Livewire” today (May 11th) via YouTube. Unsurprisingly, the video manages to enhance the already-overwhelming song, taking “Livewire” to new depths with four alternating storylines: An argumentative middle-aged couple in a car, an elderly widow in her home, a pensive man and wife in a bathroom, and two young lovebirds on a rooftop. Each storyline evokes different raw emotions and provides a separate approach to the song’s poetic lyrics. It’s an intense, emotionally draining experience that is bound to leave you with a tear in your eye and a pounding in your chest.

Watch: “Livewire” (Official Video) – Oh Wonder

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“Livewire” – Oh Wonder

I’ve been depending on the overgrown
Too many lovers that I’ll never know
Counting my losses as I let them go
Heavy the water as I sink below…

Down down deep down
Down deep down
Down down deep down

Oh won’t you be my livewire?
Make me feel like I’m set on fire
Your love will take me higher and higher
Oh won’t you be my livewire?

I’ve been pretending all my shots are blown
Cover my heart up never let it show
I’m shaking it off to find a higher low
So heavy the water
Oh so heavy the water falling…

Down down deep down
Down deep down
Down down deep down

Can you hear me falling…

Down down deep down
Down deep down
Down down deep down

Oh won’t you be my livewire?
Make me feel like I’m set on fire
Your love will take me higher and higher
Oh won’t you be my livewire?

So hold me when I fall away from the lines
When I’m losing it all, when I’m wasting the light
And hold me when I put my heart in your hands
When I’m losing it all, when I’m wasting it all

Oh won’t you be my livewire?
Make me feel like I’m set on fire
Your love will take me higher and higher
Oh won’t you be my livewire?