By ‘High on Humans’, the latest release from songwriting duo Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht, reflects on finding highs in other people, and in life. ‘High on Humans’ is the fifth single release from Oh Wonder’s upcoming second studio album ‘Ultralife’, a 12 track LP set to be released on the 14th July.
On Instagram, Josephine shared the story behind the track, explaining that the song came from unanticipated interactions with strangers – from a disagreement about food on the tube, to an almost-confrontation with an injured man. She clarifies: ‘We wrote a song about the importance of talking to strangers and finding highs in other people’.
So far, the ‘Ultralife’ album is full of an upbeat energy that their debut self-titled album lacked (but made up for in mellow, chill, background sounds). Tracks such as ‘Ultralife’ and ‘Lifetimes’ express this energy for music, and for life. They are songs about loving and living life that make you happy to be experiencing, and appreciating, the moment you are living in.
The track opens with a series of robotic vocal samples stating ‘I’m getting high on humans’, a stark contrast from the human feeling and experience of the song. This mechanical vocal sampling provides an insight into the importance of human expression and contact, compared with machines and the unemotional inanimate. Although a lot less catchy and warming than ‘Ultralife’, ‘High on Humans’ still creates a high from music through a repetitive melodical and lyrical base for Josephine and Anthony’s perfect harmonies.
All in all, ‘High in Humans’ expresses the importance of, and high you get, from contact with strangers and new people, and learning about their interests – ‘we’re lighting our minds up’. As Josephine succinctly articulates in the caption of her Instagram video: ‘talk to strangers – you might just write a pop song about it…’
