A decade after their launch, Oh Wonder are re-recording that first baker’s dozen that gave them so much – starting with “Body Gold (10 Years On),” a cinematic and soul-stirring remake that shines with all the intimacy, vulnerability, and heart of their debut single.
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Stream: “Body Gold” – Oh Wonder
And we will walk with our feet on the ground, and we will talk with our head in the clouds…
Oh Wonder weren’t the first band to tackle the “one song a month for a year” approach, but one could argue they were the best at it.
From September 2014 to September 2015, the then-anonymous duo of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West introduced themselves and their pop-oriented music project through a series of thirteen songs, each one seemingly more intimate, vulnerable, and breathtaking than the last.
“Being anonymous was actually kind of lovely, because we’re all about focusing on the art, not the artist,” Josephine told Atwood Magazine in the band’s very first interview in 2015. “We’re focusing on the music, not what kind of cheese we like and what movies we watch, which I find very irrelevant.” (For what it’s worth, it’s Comté.)
Early anonymity was a gift for the fledgling duo – in an era already defined by overexposure, social media presence, and fan engagement, it allowed them to focus entirely on their music and their craft, and to make that the centerpiece of their identity. Best of all, the strategy worked: Every single Oh Wonder track released over that first year went to #1 on music aggregator The Hype Machine, which quickly boosted the band out of obscurity, earning them an early signing to major label Republic Records and a truly worldwide fan base: Ahead of their debut album’s release, they had sold out shows in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Brussels, Amsterdam, and beyond.
But before all of that – before the critical acclaim, the five studio albums, the countless world tours and festival slots, the surprise collaborations, and so on – one song started it all. Released September 1, 2024, “Body Gold” didn’t just mark Oh Wonder’s entrance into the world; it set the tone for their partnership, effortlessly capturing the love they shared, and the power of their unique musical chemistry as songwriters, performers, and producers.
“[It was] really like painting by numbers, trying to make a track,” Josephine shared in that early interview. “That innocence and naivety is brilliant, because I think that’s why that song feels really fresh and a bit rough around the edges.”
Prior to working together, both West and Vander Gucht had been pursuing their own singer/songwriter careers – his more in the rock vein, hers more acoustic and folk-leaning. “We had no idea about electronic production – like, absolutely no clue… Neither of us knew anything! I remember when we wrote it, Anthony was like, ‘Oh, let’s just try and put a snare on it, or something,’ We were trying to like, sample beats and stuff, and we had no idea what we were doing.”
For his part, Anthony described making that first song as a “kindergarten project.” It was all experimentation as they tried to find their voice, using a song Josephine had written while she was staying at Anthony’s parents’ house, as their starting point.
Ten years on from their first foray into the world, Oh Wonder have returned home and are once again tackling that first baker’s dozen that gave them so much –
only this time, they’re doing it sans-anonymity, with a decade’s worth of industry experience, and with real instruments (as opposed to the electronic sounds and synth patches that defined their debut). It’s an ambitious endeavor that can be likened to Taylor Swift’s re-recording project, in that Oh Wonder are no longer affiliated with a record label (the pair split ways with Island Records after 2022’s 22 Make), and they are following their original songs as the blueprints to the “newer” versions – although the band seem to be taking more creative liberties than Swift has, when it comes to artistic updates and amendments.
That exciting journey begins with “Body Gold (10 Years On),” a cinematic and soul-stirring remake that shines with all the intimacy, vulnerability, and heart of the original.
Before you came round, my heart would never beat much faster
Before you came round, I was ready to slow down
Before you came round, I was heading for a small disaster
Before you came round, I was ready to blow me down
Let it go, paint my body gold
Take our bodies higher and higher and higher
We can go until the morning glow
We can go higher and higher and higher
Independently released September 1, 2024, “Body Gold (10 Years On)” is the start of a very special year for Oh Wonder’s Josephine and Anthony Vander West (who married, and created a new surname out of their two last names, in 2021). The release arrives just one month after Josephine released her own solo debut album under the moniker That Woman, and heralds the beginning of a full year’s worth of Oh Wonder re-recordings as the pair lead up to the re-release of their self-titled debut album, set for September 2025.
“It’s been a decade since we started Oh Wonder,” the band said in a statement. “On September 1st 2014 we released our first song ‘Body Gold,’ and made a commitment to write, record and release one song on the first of every month for a year. That crazy idea culminated in our self-titled album, which launched a beautiful ten years of making music and touring the world a few times over. We are so grateful to those 13 songs, but looking back we made them with one keyboard, one microphone and barely any idea what we were doing. Since then, we’ve sung those songs hundreds of times on stage, and now they somehow mean even more to us. We wondered… what would it be like to record them 10 years on? With access to real instruments and a studio? How would we play them now? How would we sing those lyrics now? Join us as we re-record and release one song a month. Hopefully it’ll sound like you’re listening to your favourite song, but with a brand new pair of headphones on. So we present to you… our first album, 10 years on.”
Before I was found, I felt like I could drain the ocean
Before I was found, I didn’t wanna breathe out
Now my soul beats a sound, loud enough to quiet the thunder
A love with no doubt, and now I’m never gonna slow down
Never gonna slow down
Let it go, paint my body gold
Take our bodies higher and higher and higher
We can go until the morning glow
We can go higher and higher and higher
Let it go, paint my body gold
We can go until the morning glow
We can go higher and higher and higher
In 2014 we decided to write, record and release one song a month for a year. And so it was 10 years ago to the day, that we went to our local café, anonymously uploaded a song called ‘Body Gold’ to SoundCloud and ordered some breakfast. 3 days later it was on 100,000 plays. Out of nowhere. That was the start of the best 10 years of our lives.
Ten years after its initial release, “Body Gold” continues to send shivers down the spine.
A stunningly raw ode to a companion, the song captures the euphoria of love and the all-consuming ache of its absence. “Before you came round, my heart would never beat much faster; before you came round, I was ready to slow down,” the pair sing at the song’s entrance, all leading up to the chorus’ emotionally charged outpouring, “Let it go, paint my body gold. Take our bodies higher and higher and higher…” Through hushed harmonies, soft dynamics, and a stunning array of shiver-inducing instrumental performances, Oh Wonder revel in the ancient beauty of that deepest form of human connection.
“This is what happens if you re-master, re-mix, re-play and re-sing a song 10 years later, with real instruments, better microphones and a whole lotta gratitude after a decade of singing these words to hundreds of thousands of people… Hopefully it feels the same, but better,” Oh Wonder shared upon the song’s re-release. “Like a warm, comforting hug for your ears. We hope you love it and it brings back some good memories.”
And we will walk with our feet on the ground
And we will talk with our head in the clouds
And we will walk with our feet on the ground
And we will talk with our head in the clouds
And we will walk with our feet on the ground
And we will talk with our head in the clouds
And we will walk with our feet on the ground
On the ground, on the ground, on the ground
Let it go, paint my body gold
Take our bodies higher and higher and higher
We can go until the morning glow
We can go higher and higher and higher
Let it go, paint my body gold
We can go until the morning glow
We can go higher and higher and higher
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Stream: “Body Gold” – Oh Wonder
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