Biography
Dream Wife carry forward an empowering tradition rooted in the Slits, Debbie Harry, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Le Tigre through their brashly catchy fusion of punk and pop together with an outspoken feminist stance. Rakel Mjöll’s knack for moving in a split second from a coo to a howl, combined with the group’s sharp songcraft and plentiful hooks, lends an engaging, frequently playful vitality to the queer and non-binary trio’s statements on gender roles, body image, and identity. While 2018’s Dream Wife foregrounded raw punk force, the 2020 U.K. Top 20 album So When You Gonna… introduced gentle ballads and seldom-discussed subjects such as miscarriages; 2023’s Social Lubrication then balanced indignant fury with lighthearted sensuality. Even as their sound shifted, the band’s dedication to women and non-binary individuals remained constant, evidenced by their backing of organizations like Girls Rock London and their consistent choice of all-female creative collaborators.
The project originated in 2014 when Mjöll, guitarist Alice Go, and bassist Bella Podpadec were still art students in Brighton, England. Raised in Iceland, Mjöll lived eight years in California, then returned home and studied opera and jazz singing in Reykjavík during her teenage years. Go had already played guitar in several groups and first encountered Podpadec at a Battle of the Bands event in Somerset before the three united. Podpadec took up bass specifically for the venture, which borrowed its name from Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr’s 1953 romantic comedy and drew musical cues from David Bowie, Madonna, Le Tigre, and Sleigh Bells.
After an art-gallery performance and a This Is Spinal Tap-style mockumentary in which the three posed as a ’90s band fantasizing about a Canadian tour, the art project proved so popular that it evolved into an actual band. Following graduation the members relocated to London, where they began regular live appearances, among them a 2015 D.I.Y. Canadian trek using only a drum machine. For their first EP they enlisted Go’s father on drums and tracked the material at her parents’ house; the resulting EP1 surfaced in March 2016 on Cannibal Hymns and revealed their gritty yet melodic approach. Additional short releases followed, including September’s Fire EP (named for the three members’ astrological fire signs), before the self-titled debut album arrived on Lucky Number in January 2018. That record reached number 60 on the U.K. Albums Chart and drew broad praise. Over the next year-plus the band toured extensively with drummer Alex Paveley, sharing stages with Sunflower Bean, the Kills, and Garbage while also completing their first U.S. run; for both those dates and a subsequent U.K. headline tour they hand-picked seven female and non-binary support acts. In October 2019 they released the benefit mixtape Alice Go – Tour Support Reimagined, compiling reimagined versions of songs by those artists to aid Girls Rock London.
Beyond a slot at Singapore’s all-female Alex Blake Charlie Sessions Festival, Dream Wife devoted much of 2019 to writing their second album at Podpadec’s home studio. When recording time arrived they assembled an entirely female team—producer Marta Salogni (Holly Herndon, FKA twigs), engineer Grace Banks (Marika Hackman), and mastering engineer Heba Kadry (Princess Nokia, Beach House)—to work at London Fields’ Pony Studios. Issued in July 2020, So When You Gonna… merged the group’s punk edge with introspective ballads while addressing abortion, miscarriage, and gender equality; it became their commercial breakthrough, climbing to number 18 on the U.K. Albums Chart. The heightened visibility brought modeling assignments for Go and Mjöll (the latter also launched the organic clothing line Silk Basics with her grandmother). The band additionally supplied remixes for Rina Sawayama and Porridge Radio and appeared at festivals worldwide. They self-produced their third album, June 2023’s Social Lubrication, which Alan Moulder and Caesar Edmunds mixed; the record translated the visceral punch of their live shows into explorations of bodily autonomy, resistance to the patriarchy, and sexual liberation.
The project originated in 2014 when Mjöll, guitarist Alice Go, and bassist Bella Podpadec were still art students in Brighton, England. Raised in Iceland, Mjöll lived eight years in California, then returned home and studied opera and jazz singing in Reykjavík during her teenage years. Go had already played guitar in several groups and first encountered Podpadec at a Battle of the Bands event in Somerset before the three united. Podpadec took up bass specifically for the venture, which borrowed its name from Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr’s 1953 romantic comedy and drew musical cues from David Bowie, Madonna, Le Tigre, and Sleigh Bells.
After an art-gallery performance and a This Is Spinal Tap-style mockumentary in which the three posed as a ’90s band fantasizing about a Canadian tour, the art project proved so popular that it evolved into an actual band. Following graduation the members relocated to London, where they began regular live appearances, among them a 2015 D.I.Y. Canadian trek using only a drum machine. For their first EP they enlisted Go’s father on drums and tracked the material at her parents’ house; the resulting EP1 surfaced in March 2016 on Cannibal Hymns and revealed their gritty yet melodic approach. Additional short releases followed, including September’s Fire EP (named for the three members’ astrological fire signs), before the self-titled debut album arrived on Lucky Number in January 2018. That record reached number 60 on the U.K. Albums Chart and drew broad praise. Over the next year-plus the band toured extensively with drummer Alex Paveley, sharing stages with Sunflower Bean, the Kills, and Garbage while also completing their first U.S. run; for both those dates and a subsequent U.K. headline tour they hand-picked seven female and non-binary support acts. In October 2019 they released the benefit mixtape Alice Go – Tour Support Reimagined, compiling reimagined versions of songs by those artists to aid Girls Rock London.
Beyond a slot at Singapore’s all-female Alex Blake Charlie Sessions Festival, Dream Wife devoted much of 2019 to writing their second album at Podpadec’s home studio. When recording time arrived they assembled an entirely female team—producer Marta Salogni (Holly Herndon, FKA twigs), engineer Grace Banks (Marika Hackman), and mastering engineer Heba Kadry (Princess Nokia, Beach House)—to work at London Fields’ Pony Studios. Issued in July 2020, So When You Gonna… merged the group’s punk edge with introspective ballads while addressing abortion, miscarriage, and gender equality; it became their commercial breakthrough, climbing to number 18 on the U.K. Albums Chart. The heightened visibility brought modeling assignments for Go and Mjöll (the latter also launched the organic clothing line Silk Basics with her grandmother). The band additionally supplied remixes for Rina Sawayama and Porridge Radio and appeared at festivals worldwide. They self-produced their third album, June 2023’s Social Lubrication, which Alan Moulder and Caesar Edmunds mixed; the record translated the visceral punch of their live shows into explorations of bodily autonomy, resistance to the patriarchy, and sexual liberation.
Albums
Singles
Room 341
2024
All The Things She Said
2024
Love You More
2023
Leech
2022
Sports!
2020
Hey Heartbreaker
2018
Somebody
2017
Live
