So When You Gonna…

Dream Wife aren’t the kind of band to do things at half pace. See, for evidence, 2018’s fizzing self-titled debut, which the former Brighton University students—guitarist Alice Go, bassist Bella Podpadec and singer Rakel Mjöll—recorded in just one week (squeezing in two high-octane live dates for good measure). But after two years of non-stop touring, the punk rock trio hit the pause button when it came to recording its follow-up, So When You Gonna.... “We had this moment to collect ourselves separately, and come back as sisters and as a well-oiled machine,” Go tells Apple Music. “We wrote this record in about six months, and it was the polar opposite of the experience of the first album. This time, we could just sit still with the songs and actually reflect.” Slowing down, however, meant burning no less brightly—the frenetic melodies and fearless lyrics that defined Dream Wife’s triumphant debut are all present and correct—but it did enable the band to showcase something of a softer side. As such, Dream Wife fully, as they put it, “lean into” their pop influences (think Blondie and Robyn) alongside helpings of indie, shoegaze and even balladry. “There’s this light and shade in the body of work which is different to the first album,” admits Go. “We were really proud of the sounds we’ve been able to make, because there were a lot of things that we’ve been wanting to try for a really long time.” Between the unabashed, tongue-in-cheek fun of “Sports!” and empowered anthems about owning your desire (“Homesick”, “So When You Gonna...”), the band also get personal—delving into the discombobulating nature of touring and relationships coming to an end. Then, in So When You Gonna...'s most powerful, bare moments, they move into miscarriage and abortion. It’s a mix indebted to Rakel’s grandmother, who once told the band, “You’ve got to make them laugh before you can make them cry.” But such honesty is also the product of the all-female team Dream Wife assembled around them,