AMETHYSTS: Wreckers

By definition, a wrecker is a person or thing that wrecks.₁

Clarice and Simon—songwriting gems of Suffolk-based AMETHYSTS—place the blame for heartbreak with every last one of us. The very same selves now appearing in millions of self-centered selfies on social-networking and photo-sharing screens. We are the wreckers of our own love. Guilty as charged.

...there are character traits that create specific and notable risks in a relationship: selfishness, selflessness, exploitative personalities, argumentativeness, and excessive self-preoccupation, among other traits, undermine a capacity for intimacy.₂

Clarice's vocal texture might remind listeners of Stevie Nicks, known for her song Dreams (1977). Fleetwood Mac's only #1 hit on American charts. Ancients regarded the purple-tinted amethyst as a dream stone. On the band's blog adds: ...a stone of peace and tranquility. The stone of the Zodiac sign of Pisces.

• video playlist @ Uploads from Amethysts' Music
• bbc @ BBC: Music: Amethysts
• interview @ Girl Underground Music
• interview @ Indietronica
• blog @ weareamethysts.wordpress.com

1. wrecker. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wrecker (accessed: October 03, 2015).
2. Leonoff, Arthur. The Good Divorce: A Psychoanalyst's Exploration of Separation, Divorce, and Childcare. 2015. London, UK: Karnac. Print. p.33

Oh Wonder: Heart Hope

orig. image by Mike Lee Thomas

Josephine, co-writer for London-based songwriting couplet Oh Wonder, layers the honey sweetness. While Anthony lays down the rich texture for their alt-pop hit, Heart Hope, which helped them become an in-demand band, loved for their monthly tracks. Using SoundCloud for song send-offs, the two exploited the subscriber mindset of social media. Fans depending on digital events to break the monotony of life; the weekly television series, now, the scheduled music release. Since technology allows musicians to write/record/release all in a day, it is only a matter of time before more good songwriters schedule just-recorded releases of full singles straight out of their home studios. This suddenly famous DIY-duo has proven the inevitable. New listeners become intimate with tracks incrementally, while the immediacy of fresh releases quickly builds interest for tours—attracting spontaneous fans to venues. Embedded audio players become digital middlemen.

Placed above a piano is a handwritten bucket list, of sorts. A little list of goals, it contains a series of aims that Gucht and West set out to achieve as a career. One aims to be in-demand songwriters, respected for our art. And that's how Oh Wonder started - as an exercise in songwriting.₁

Realizing the quality of their music, Oh Wonder, should no longer wonder why they are suddenly in-demand; after being written, that phrase became a decree. If a song resonates hope deep within the heart of its listener, a deposit is left. We need a britpop message of hope deposited there. Beautiful songs resonate in the spirit even more than in DNA. Which may help explain why a growing fan base is all ears for songs which lead to record deals and world tours. Contributing to the surreal enchantment of sudden fame which now occupies the imaginations of the twosome. By virtue of instinct and intuition, they defied cerebral music; bypassing minds to target hearts where hope resides.

• Soundcloud: Oh Wonder
• iTunes: Oh Wonder
• Amazon UK: Oh Wonder
• Amazon US: Oh Wonder
• Google Play: Oh Wonder
• Home: Oh Wonder
• Facebook: Oh Wonder
• Twitter: Oh Wonder
• Spotify: Oh Wonder
• Instagram: Oh Wonder
• YouTube: Oh Wonder

• FourSquare: Institute of Contemporary Arts
• FourSquare: Le Pop-Up du Label
• FourSquare: Reeperbahn Festival GbR
• FourSquare: The Troubador
• FourSquare: The Echo
• FourSquare: Rough Trade
• FourSquare: Café de la Danse
• FourSquare: Ancienne Belgique
• FourSquare: Gretchen
• FourSquare: Lille VEGA
• FourSquare: Parkteatret
• FourSquare: Södra Teatern
• FourSquare: Paradiso
• FourSquare: Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld
• FourSquare: The Haunt
• FourSquare: Thekla
• FourSquare: The Bodega Social Club
• FourSquare: King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
• FourSquare: The Deaf Institute
• FourSquare: Village Underground
• FourSquare: O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire

1. Milton, Jamie. Interview: Pinch, punch, first of the month: Oh Wonder. DIY Magazine. Sept. 1, 2015. Web. Accessed: Sept. 3, 2015. http://diymag.com/2015/09/01/pinch-punch-first-of-the-month-oh-wonder.

Oh Wonder Tour Dates

Oh Wonder

1. Livewire (03:23)

2. Body Gold (03:04)

3. Technicolour Beat (03:00)

4. Drive (03:16)

5. Lose It (03:49)

6. Landslide (03:28)

7. White Blood (04:17)

8. Without You (03:44)

9. The Rain (02:54)

10. Dazzle (03:07)

11. All We Do (03:34)

12. Midnight Moon (03:30)

13. Shark (03:07)

14. Heart Hope (04:09)

15. Plans (03:55)