Oh Wonder - Free - ThatWeirdMusic

Oh Wonder seek for peace and serenity on somber tune, “Free.”

Creativity is such a fickle thing. It’s not something you can just switch on and off on a whim. You can’t ask for inspiration and expect it to arrive promptly on a silver platter. It comes and goes as it pleases, and everyone who makes a living in the creative industry constantly has the quiet voice of fear and uncertainty at the back of their mind. There are always things artistes can do to further sow the seeds of inspiration and encourage it to flourish; the main thing, of course, being to harness that desire to express oneself.

Usually, the most impactful art comes from a place of catharsis. Using art as an outlet for pent up emotions has a sure way of processing and giving voice to feelings that you may not yet fully understand. For Oh Wonder’s latest release, the super duo started with one deeply compelling idea, and followed the creative vein it uncovered deep into the unknown, resulting in a song titled, “Free.”

Inspired by a rough patch in the pair’s relationship, the track tells the story of a break-up as it unfold, starting out by giving voice to doubts and fears, processing feelings they never even realized they had, sharing the bizarre and intimate process of penning down a break-up tune together, and ultimately finding their way back to each other through the storm. A tearful and rough ordeal, the entire scenario ends up highlighting and revealing dark truths along the way. An unusual approach, but anyone can tell you how effective it can be to hear both sides of the heartbreak story at once.

Seemingly their most emotionally charged tune to date, the track bounds effortlessly above an emphatic rhythm section. “Free” floats across a serene, dreamy weightless expanse, awash with sophistication and elegance, a rare feeling from a track. It feels like one of the duo’s most cohesive work yet, not just thanks to the cathartic way it was written, but also down to the shift in musical style that acts as a unifying thread. While they have dabbled in samples, vocal effects and the likes in the past, they’ve always felt like a distraction before, a thin veneer on filler tracks like fresh paint on an old house. Here, however, they take it back to bare brick and build the electronic elements into the very nature of the song.

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