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Dream Wife (band)

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Dream Wife
Background information
OriginBrighton, England
Genres
Years active2016–present
LabelsLucky Number Music
Members
  • Alice Go
  • Rakel Mjöll
  • Bella Podpadec
Websitedreamwife.co

Dream Wife is an English, London-based band, whose sound is a mixture of punk rock, pop music and indie rock.[3][4][5] The band consists of Rakel Mjöll (lead vocals), Alice Go (guitar, vocals), and Bella Podpadec (bass, vocals).[6] They have been supported by Alex Paveley on drums since 2018.[7][8]

In 2018, the band was included on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 13 Best Things We Saw" at that year's Lollapalooza music festival.[9] Kev Geoghegan and Paul Glynn of BBC Music called Dream Wife "a jaw-dropping live act and one of the most talked-about new bands of 2018."[10] Joe Lynch of Billboard wrote "Dream Wife are inarguably one of the most exhilarating live rock bands to emerge within the last few years."[11]

History

[edit]

Early years

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Lead vocalist Rakel Mjöll (b. 1990 or 1991)[12][dubious – discuss] was born in Iceland and spent eight years of her childhood living in Santa Clara and San Jose, California.[13] She also trained in jazz and opera as a teenager in Reykjavík.[14] Somerset-raised bassist Bella Podpadec[4] (b. 1992 or 1993)[12] met guitarist Alice Go (b. 1992 or 1993)[12] at a Mid-Somerset Battle of the Bands.[15] The two women, and Bella who is non-binary,[16] went on to attend Brighton University and in 2014 they formed the band as an art school performance project.[3][4][6] The trio had the concept of forming a "fake girl band" and they recorded themselves composing the songs that they would eventually perform at an art gallery exhibition.[6][17][18] The film was shot in a mockumentary style inspired by This Is Spinal Tap.[4][6][18] After graduation the band moved to London.[3][4][19]

The band's lyrics often tackle issues related to feminism, gender roles, body image and sexual objectification.[3][4][18][20] Members of the band have cited influences such as Be Your Own Pet, Sleigh Bells, Le Tigre, Debbie Harry, Grimes, David Bowie and Madonna.[4][6][14][18] During their live shows the band are known to enact a "bitches-to-the-front" policy where they ask the audience to part in order to allow women who wish to mosh together to move closer to the front of the stage.[12][20]

First commercial releases and tour

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In 2016, the band released their first self-titled EP via Cannibal Hymns.[3][6][13] The EP was recorded at Go's parents' home in Somerset with her father on drums.[13] The following year they released another EP titled Fire.[3][19][21] The title was in part inspired by the fact that all three band members were born under astrological fire signs—Mjöll and Go are Sagittarii and Podpadec is a Leo.[3][21][22] That same year they toured Canada and performed at festivals such as the Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavík, as well as South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.[4][5][6][13]

In 2018, they released their self-titled debut album to positive reviews: Joe Goggins of The Independent gave it 4 out of 5 stars and noted that "they released a self-titled debut record that doesn't for a second sound like a DIY endeavour; it's a polished, assured slice of melodic punk."[20] Leonie Cooper of NME gave the album a 10 out of 10 and wrote: "God damn have we been waiting a long time for a band like Dream Wife."[19] Emma Swann of DIY gave the album a 4 out of 5 rating and said: "Sometimes we get the bands we want: sometimes - like in the case of Dream Wife - they're also the bands we need.[23]

The band followed their album release with an extensive tour of Europe and North America, opening for The Vaccines and the UK, Sunflower Bean during some of their US and Canadian shows, The Kills on some of the other US dates as well as opening for the band Garbage in the UK, Germany and France.[3][14][24] That same year the band performed in several cities in Australia as part of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival. In late 2018, Dream Wife embarked on their first headlining tour in North America.[24]

The band originally toured with a drum machine, but have since toured with drummer Alex Paveley.[5][25]

Second album

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In 2020, the band released their follow-up album So When You Gonna... to generally positive reviews. Helenia Wadia of the Evening Standard described it as "hearfelt and unapologetically outspoken."[26] The album drew comparisons with several female-fronted bands such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.[27] Music critic Robert Christgau applauded Mjöli's insight into sex and romance from the perspective of a "minor rock star", "from the male-bonding pissoff 'Sports!' – 'Time is money/Never apologize/These are the rules' – to a finale called 'After the Rain' where she both craves and rejects a tenderness that can only be provisional in a line of work that keeps her on the move."[1]

Discography

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Studio albums

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List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[28] 		UK
Down.
[29] 		UK
Indie
[30] 		UK
Vinyl
[31] 		SCO
[32]
Dream Wife
  • Released: 26 January 2018
  • Label: Lucky Number (#LUCKY112)
  • Formats: CD, LP, download
 60 56 11 5 74
So When You Gonna...
  • Released: 3 July 2020
  • Label: Lucky Number (#LUCKY141)
  • Formats: CD, LP, download
 18 5 2 3 5
Social Lubrication
  • Released: 9 June 2023
  • Label: Lucky Number (#LUCKY)
  • Formats: CD, LP, download
 73 33 10 7 19
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Live album

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  • IRL (Live in London 2020) (2020)

Singles

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List of singles, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Hey Heartbreaker" 2016 Dream Wife
"F.U.U."
"Somebody" 2017
"Fire"
"Let's Make Out"
"Sports!" 2020 So When You Gonna
"Hasta La Vista"
"So When You Gonna"
"After The Rain"
"Leech" 2022 Social Lubrication
"Hot (Don't Date a Musician)" 2023
"Orbit"
"Who Do You Wanna Be"
"Social Lubrication"
"Love You More"

References

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  1. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (12 August 2020). "Consumer Guide: August, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved 19 August 2020. Fronted by Iceland-born, California-raised, art school-finished Rakel Mjöli, this London-based all-female pop-punk trio picked their name before they'd ever played together and have a ways to go before matrimony per se is likely to be within their ken. Sex and romance, however, Mjöli has a bead on from the male-bonding pissoff 'Sports!'—'Time is money/Never apologize/These are the rules'—to a finale called "After the Rain" where she both craves and rejects a tenderness that can only be provisional in a line of work that keeps her on the move. She knows sex and romance are easier to come by for a minor rock star, and is up for one or both from 'Validation' to 'U Do U' to 'So When You Gonna . . .' But the crux here is called 'Validation' because she knows that's the tough one without having figured out how to get it or why exactly she needs it so.
  2. ^ Andrews, Kernan (25 January 2018). "Album review: Dream Wife". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kaplan, Ilana (9 February 2018). "Dream Wife: 'We don't fit that mould of how people think women in music should be'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Zaleski, Annie (18 January 2018). "Review: Dream Wife, 'Dream Wife'". npr.org. National Public Radio. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Rayner, Ben (27 September 2018). "Canadian dream inspired Dream Wife, fast-rising band playing Toronto on Saturday". Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lester, Paul (19 February 2016). "New band of the week: Dream Wife". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  7. ^ Nicholas, Coyne (26 January 2018). "Dream Wife Talks Influence And Their Sound". tidal.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Dream Wife: 'We need to practise what we preach'". BBC News. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. ^ Legaspi, Althea; Klinkenberg, Brendan (6 August 2018). "Lollapalooza 2018: The 13 Best Things We Saw". Rolling Stone. New York City. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  10. ^ Geoghegan, Kev; Glynn, Paul (25 May 2018). "Six acts to discover at Biggest Weekend". BBC Music. London. Retrieved 18 November 2018. Dream Wife have evolved from an art school project to a jaw-dropping live act and one of the most talked-about new bands of 2018.
  11. ^ Lynch, Joe (8 March 2018). "Dream Wife on Accidentally Creating 'A Party Album' & Why Bands Are Like Marriages". Billboard. New York City: Lynne Segall. Retrieved 18 November 2018. Dream Wife are inarguably one of the most exhilarating live rock bands to emerge within the last few years, straddling the fine line between fun and ferocity while blasting crowds with their mixture of late '70s post-punk and early '00s New York rock.
  12. ^ a b c d Drell, Cady (31 August 2018). "Dream Wife Just Want to Dismantle the Patriarchy". Rolling Stone. New York City. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  13. ^ a b c d Carroll, Elle (16 March 2017). "Dream Wife Hops the Pond". SF Weekly. San Francisco. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b c Lynch, Joe (8 March 2018). "Dream Wife on Accidentally Creating 'A Party Album' & Why Bands Are Like Marriages". Billboard. New York City: Lynne Segall. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  15. ^ Zyzda, Rachel (1 October 2018). "A Chat With: Dream Wife". Anchr Magazine. Chicago. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  16. ^ Ways, Curious. ""I am not my body, I am somebody": Dream Wife on Roe v. Wade and creating safe spaces". HUNGER TV. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  17. ^ Craighead, Olivia (8 February 2018). "Dream Wife rules and here's the proof". The Fader. New York City: Andy Cohn. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  18. ^ a b c d Corcoran, Nina (8 February 2018). "Dream Wife – Dream Wife". Pitchfork. Chicago: Condé Nast. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  19. ^ a b c Cooper, Leonie (22 January 2018). "Dream Wife – 'Dream Wife' review". New Musical Express. London: TI Media. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  20. ^ a b c Goggins, Joe (26 March 2018). "Dream Wife review, The Deaf Institute, Manchester: Sticking two fingers up at the patriarchy". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  21. ^ a b Cliff, Aimee (15 August 2017). "London Band Dream Wife Have Made The Perfect Song For Leo Season". The Fader. New York City: Andy Cohn. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  22. ^ Solomon, Kate (5 December 2017). "Performance Art Project Turned Legit Band, Dream Wife, Talk Spice Girls, Snail Juice and Bad Bitches". Beat Magazine. London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  23. ^ Swann, Swann (26 January 2018). "Dream Wife - Dream Wife". DIY. London: Sonic Media Group. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  24. ^ a b Streva, Virginia (24 September 2018). "Meet Dream Wife: the U.K. punk band redefining 'girl power'". Philly Voice. Philadelphia. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  25. ^ Foster, Amelia (3 October 2018). "Dream Wife's feminist fury rocks the Entry". City Pages. Minneapolis. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Dream Wife's So When You Gonna... is unapologetic and heartfelt". Evening Standard. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Dream Wife – "So When You Gonna...' album review". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  28. ^ "UK chart peaks". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  29. ^ UK download album chart peaks:
  30. ^ UK independent album chart peaks:
  31. ^ UK vinyl album chart peaks:
  32. ^ Scottish chart peaks:
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