+ “Date Night with Dream Wife” DJ Set Downstairs post-gig (Free Entry / 18+)
London-based trio Dream Wife – vocalist Rakel Mjöll (she/her), guitarist Alice Go (she/her), bassist Bella Podpadec (they/them) – released their electrifying third album, Social Lubrication, this Summer via Lucky Number to critical acclaim. Known for their explosive live shows, Dream Wife go stateside later this week with a string of dates kicking off in NYC at Brooklyn Made. To celebrate their forthcoming run of shows, they today share brand new track “Love You More”, recorded during the Social Lubrication album sessions. Drawing from the likes of Pixies and Hole for inspiration, the band says, “‘Love You More’ is not your typical love song, but a love song to the self and choosing to love perfectly imperfect bodies. It has a gritty underbelly, dealing with self-acceptance, body dysmorphia, disaster capitalism, climate collapse and depression. From the micro to the macro, the song explores the relationship between the self and both the body and the earth as experiences of home, as a vessel for feeling.”
Social Lubrication is an entirely self-written album, produced by Alice Go (of Dream Wife) alongside Matthew Peel, mixed by duo Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers, Depeche Mode) and Caesar Edmunds (Wet Leg, Beach House). The album finds the band once again playfully tackling big subjects like bodily autonomy, dismantling the patriarchy, and using your platform for the greater good, while truly translating the visceral nature of their riotous live shows to tape for the first time. Social Lubrication follows their UK Top 20 breakthrough with their sophomore record So When You Gonna…. What came next was remixes for the likes of Rina Sawayama, Nova Twins, and Porridge Radio, and international touring at festivals such as Lollapalooza (US), Laneway (AU), Summersonic (JP), Primavera (ES) and Pitchfork (FR) as well as opening slots for Garbage, The Kills, and even the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park.
Dream Wife have come a long way since their 2018 self-titled debut. Their last album, smashed the Official UK Top 20 album charts (the only indie album recorded and produced by all women at the time to do so), and earned them universal praise and countless sold-out shows Alongside their accolades, however, Dream Wife have always advocated for upholding the community on a truly ground level and paying it forward. Proceeds from direct digital sales of So When You Gonna… went to Black Minds Matter and Gendered Intelligence. In 2021, the band released a megamix for Rainbow Mind, a mental health charity for LGBTQIA people, with contributions from Shirley Manson, The Big Moon, Big Joanie and Girli among others.