Gold Coast's Wandering Blind offer up danceable overcast pop in new single, 'Oh Well'

Gold Coast’s Wandering Blind have brought forth a follow up to last year’s debut single, ‘Candidate’ with sophomore single, ‘Oh Well’ - a slice of danceable, overcast pop.

‘Oh Well’ whether it knows it or not, has its roots deep in 80s New Wave and early emo/goth (think The Cure in their ‘The Head On the Door’ phase). With a stripped-back live arrangement (Wandering Blind are a two-piece), in the studio, they’ve taken on extra instrumentation to thicken out the layers. With disco beats from Kyle Thompson keeping the pace, allowing Guitarist/Vocalist Jack Holt to float over the top with super jangly guitar drenched in reverb. The added synths in the chorus add a nice melodic touch, but it’s the post-chorus section that curiously creates a clever hook. The 80s-style fade out to the end is the chef’s kiss on the track (seriously… didn’t know these were still a thing).

Of the track, Jack says it was a conscious effort to write a song that peaked and grew

“…like in EDM when the bass drops. I just wanted to have a song that would get people moving, but that made them feel like they could relate at the same time,’ he said.

The song's lyrics paint a mature side of Wandering Blind, sounding like a modern day ‘Que Será, Será’. Whilst prior single ‘Candidate’ was more pronged, ‘Oh Well’ is heartfelt in its sincerity. This is conveyed in Jack Holt’s vocals, as he mixes soft whispered tones with powerful cries.

“I remember trying really hard to come up with lyrics that would make it a ‘banger’, but in the end I got something different,” Holt said.

“I feel like everyone has a moment where they feel they’ll never reach the heights set for them or they’ve got to accept defeat. It’s become a motto for us, we’d casually sing ‘Oh Well’ every time we failed at something and just giggle!”

For Wandering Blind this marks a year of hope, with three more singles planned for release during 2022. The band want to continue their trend of releasing music that goes against the sound established in their prior release.

‘Oh Well’ is streaming now on all platforms.