New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Oh Wonder have today released brand new track 'Don't Let The
Neighbourhood Hear' - a further preview of surprise new album 22 Break, which will see a release on Island Records/Universal
Music on October 8th. The project was launched recently by its powerful title track, and swiftly followed by news of a 52-date world tour for 2022 (an intimate London date at The Albany Theatre this week sold out in seconds, and will be streamed globally on October 14th). All this is the unique duo's first new material since 2020's 'No One Else Can Wear Your Crown', and back-to-back top 10 albums from the band who have - on their own distinct terms - become one of UK pop's more unsuspecting success stories (2.7 billion streams, 1.7 million adjusted album sales, and vocal fans in the likes of Billie Eilish).
'Don't Let The
Neighbourhood Hear' is an emotive highlight of '22 Break', a soundtrack to screaming fights (and keeping them from next-door) amidst the pressures of the pandemic. This tumultuous and deeply personal time in their private lives is the subject of Oh Wonder's fifth studio album, which they shared news of recently in characteristically open style. It's a brutally honest and powerfully beautiful record, and one that lets listeners into the
Oh Wonder fold like never before. As Josephine puts it: "We were just writing songs. We had no idea we were writing a break-up album."
'22 Break' is a portal into the emotional states surrounding 'Don't Let The
Neighbourhood Hear', and the life-changing, universal breakup themes (loneliness, inadequacy, resentment, fears for the future) as experienced in real-time by one couple in their garden shed. In the pandemic's early phases, Anthony and Josephine worked hard to fill the gap created by the halting effects of lockdown: Anthony even decided to open a coffee shop in Peckham (the gorgeous, meticulously designed Nola), which soon saw round-the-block queues and put many of their touring crew back in work. As they started working on new music, however, all the unspoken tensions between a pair who'd never really known a relationship outside of the band tumbled out. Ultimately, though, the album that almost ended
Oh Wonder proved to be the making of them: '22 Break' is a cathartic, quietly hopeful project, the light at the end of the tunnel that was Oh Wonder's quite particular pandemic.
Not many bands can make a break-up album that culminates in them tying the knot - but then again,
Oh Wonder have never been like other bands. Coming out of '22 Break' and all the soul-searching that it forced them to do, Josephine and Anthony finally got married in August this year. Whilst their relationship now has its own space to exist outside of Nola and Oh Wonder, the duo's crossroads period has accidentally resulted in their most profound work to date ("it's awkward, it's vulnerable, but it also saved us," adds Josephine). True to their DIY spirit,
Oh Wonder have since thrown themselves into a stunning short film that will accompany the full album, and is previewed in the visuals unveiled thus far.
Oh Wonder also played a very special, one-off show at The Albany Theatre in London on
Thursday - which sold out in seconds - ahead of a global Youtube stream on October 14th (and their epic world tour, below).
2022 UK + IRE Tour Dates
03 MAR 2022 // GLAUVCLUB, MOSCOW
04 MAR 2022 // MORZE, ST PETERSBURG
06 MAR 2022 // CLUB HOLLYWOOD, TALLINN
08 MAR 2022 // HANZAS PERONS, RIGA
09 MAR 2022 // LOFTAS ART FACTORY, VILINUS
11 MAR 2022 // STODOLA, WARSAW
12 MAR 2022 // B17, POZNAN
13 MAR 2022 // KLUB STUDIO, KRAKOW
15 MAR 2022 // ARENA, VIENNA
16 MAR 2022 // ATELIER BABYLON, BRATISLAVA
17 MAR 2022 // AKVÁRIUM KLUB, BUDAPEST
19 MAR 2022 // ASTRA KULTURHAUS, BERLIN
20 MAR 2022 // AMAGER BIO, COPENHAGEN
21 MAR 2022 // ROCKEFELLER MUSIC HALL, OSLO
23 MAR 2022 // GROSSE FREIHEIT, HAMBURG
24 MAR 2022 // CARLSERK VICTORIA, COLOGNE
26 MAR 2022 // MAGAZINNI GENERALI, MILAN
27 MAR 2022 // LES DOCKS, LAUSANNE
29 MAR 2022 // BACKSTAGE WERK, MUNICH
31 MAR 2022 // TIVOLIREDENBURG - RONDA, UTRECHT
01 APR 2022 // AMSTERDAM, PARADISO
03 APR 2022 // LE TRIANON, PARIS
04 APR 2022 // ANCIENNE BELGIQUE, BRUSSELS
06 APR 2022 // DEN ATELIER, LUXEMBOURG
07 APR 2022 // O2 GUILDHALL, SOUTHAMPTON
08 APR 2022 // THE GREAT HALL, CARDIFF
09 APR 2022 // O2 ACADEMY, LIVERPOOL
11 APR 2022 // ROCK CITY, NOTTINGHAM
12 APR 2022 // SWG3 GALVANISERS, GLASGOW
14 APR 2022 // OLYMPIA THEATRE, DUBLIN
15 APR 2022 // O2 ACADEMY, LEEDS
17 APR 2022 // NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY, NEWCASTLE
20 APR 2022 // O2 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM
20 APR 2022 // O2 RITZ, MANCHESTER
21 APR 2022 // O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON, LONDON
22 APR 2022 // UAE, NORWICH
08 MAY 2022 // HISTORY, TORONTO, ON
10 MAY 2022 // MTELUS, MONTREAL, QC
11 MAY 2022 // HOUSE OF BLUES, BOSTON, MA
13 MAY 2022 // 9.30 CLUB, WASHINGTON, DC
14 MAY 2022 // THEATRE OF LIVING ARTS (TLA), PHILADELPHIA, PA
15 MAY 2022 // BROOKLYN STEEL, BROOKLYN, NY
17 MAY 2022 // THE VIC THEATRE, CHICAGO, IL
18 MAY 2022 // FIRST THEATRE, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
20 MAY 2022 // OGDEN THEATRE, DENVER, CO
21 MAY 2022 // THE DEPOT, SALT LAKE CITY
23 MAY 2022 // SHOWBOX SODO, SEATTLE, WA
24 MAY 2022 // VOGUE THEATER, VANCOUVER, BC
25 MAY 2022 // ROSELAND THEATER, PORTLAND, OR
28 MAY 2022 // FOX THEATER, OAKLAND, CA
29 MAY 2022 // HOUSE OF BLUES, ANAHEIM
31 MAY 2022 // THE WILTERN, LOS ANGELES.
