Review: Lisa Mitchell – “Wonder”


It’s a Sunday morning and I have the absolute joy of listening to ‘Wonder‘, the debut album from Lisa Mitchell. A lush, evocative and at times blissful collection of songs from the folky pop songstress.

Lisa Mitchell




English born Lisa moved to Australia at three years old and made it her home. She grew up listening to the sounds of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Van Morrison, of which their influence is definitely present here. For ‘Wonder’ Lisa has worked with singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt, former Longpigs front man Crispin Hunt and Australian band Evermore, amongst others. All the pieces are there, so how does this debut shape up?

It starts with a tiny beautiful little excerpt of the popular, ‘Oh What A Beautiful Morning‘. A lovely start into the world of Lisa Mitchell. Its first single ‘Neopolitan Dreams‘ which really opens this album up though. A joyful and at times a very touching song.  When I was walking this morning it made me smile and for a minute I’m sure the sun peeped through the miserable sky. New single ‘Coin Laundry‘ follows on and continues that joyfulness that seems to be evident throughout ‘Wonder’. Warm vocal tones set over a Spektor-ish piano melody and almost edgy electro drum beats. An ode to a lost lover that seems to be slightly out of reach. Its ‘Pirouette’ that gave me goose bumps when I heard it first. It highlights Lisa’s darker side in her lyrics and melody. “Rest your head by the water, come lay down in the water“, imagery that only classic songwriters can get right. She sings it with such emotion that you can hear the hurt, but also the light at the end of the tunnel is not too far away. A string section creeps in too that gives you another dimension to this song. She continues this mood on ‘Love Letter‘. A simple piano led song with yet again that voice that just gets you. It eases you in slowly and then builds up and grabs you till you realise an angel is singing.


Neopolitan Dreams

The brighter side of ‘Wonder’ is in ‘Oh! Hark!‘ and ‘Red Wine Lips‘. Both show how great Lisa is at delivering innocence in her lyrics. Also showing us a maturity that she gets from her musical influences. To think she is only 19 is astounding. ‘Animals’ just made me smile unashamedly. I get a feeling its a ‘coming of age’ song. Its playful and what I believe sums up Lisa’s personality perfectly in a song. Samba like drums and brass section with poppy folk infused guitar. A song that when played to my 2 month old son he smiled and a tiny laugh filled the room.

I announced on Twitter that I found a new favourite song in the shape of ‘Valium‘. Dark piano tones that echo into your soul. Heartbreaking lyrics where you can hear her heart bleed for the person this song is about. “I find a scientist to help me, and if I meet the maker of all the universe, ill ask him why we’re here and what are we here for, and I tell them all the stories about our little world” Lisa sings beautifully, it’s sublime and a simply wonderful song.

What Lisa Mitchell does so well on ‘Wonder’ is she let’s you in to what she is all about. There’s innocence and playfulness but also a darker side to our folk pop songstress. ‘Wonder’ is a ‘rainbow’ album, there are beautiful colours throughout but along the way it’s the dark clouds that drag you in. In the end you find your pot of gold and want do the journey all over again.

Peter Cornish-Barlow




Learn More