As they hit album three, London based trio Dream Wife seem to have hit a very happy medium between the sounds of the two albums which preceded Social Lubrication. Opener ‘Kick In The Teeth’ returns to the riotous, righteous anger that was often found on their self-titled debut, bringing back the chainsaw guitars and pounding riffs. It’s an extremely exciting way to kick off the album and I can imagine it as the perfect opener on their upcoming tour. ‘Who Do You Wanna Be?’ continues that pace. It has a great incremental build to a furious chorus, Rakel Mjoll’s vocals taking centre stage as she wails about ‘empty slogans tryna dictate my life’ and ‘pockets running dry.’ Those who felt the rage was slightly missing from album two will be glad to hear it return so early on the latest work, both in a musical and lyrical context.
But those who got a kick out of the fun, playful side of the band that emerged on album two will be ecstatic to hear the band rip through ‘Hot (Don’t Date A Musician)’. I’ll admit that this song was the first one to give me pause on the album, as I tend to lean towards the content of their more political/social commentary style songs – but after listening to it for a while, it’s hard to deny that it’s a great bit of fun that fits well with the message of the band. And the title song that follows is maybe the moment when the coalescing sounds of the first two albums most comes together, as spoken word verses focus on many of the degrading things that men still say to women (‘be attractive but don’t bank on it,’ ‘your womb is a ticking time bomb’, ‘your looks will fade’) before they switch to a singalong chorus that will be great at a festival.
Four songs in, and you already get a sense that this is a band who have only increased in confidence and power. ‘Mascara’ slows things down for the first time, but that doesn’t last for long. With ‘Leech’ we are in full anger mode again, and after a superb bit of scene setting about the ‘leech’ we are discussing we slide into one Mjoll’s best vocal deliveries on the album as she says ‘How dare you get to hug her/you don’t deserve to love/you don’t deserve her words/what she stand’s for’. And the second verse of the song ramps things up even further, as abusive men and those who use their power for ill are roundly called out. All before the album’s most memorable chorus.
It must be hard to keep up this relentless pace and quality, and as we get to ‘I Want You’ and ‘Curious’ we are met with two songs that don’t do quite as much as those that came before them. But neither are bad. ‘Curious’ definitely leans into the fun, playful side of the band – on the first few listens I felt like it might fall slightly too far on the wrong side of silly, but repeated listens have left me feeling that it’s another fun song that really shows the band’s personality.
But the album ends with two fantastic songs that show even more variation and growth in the band. ‘Honestly’ almost feels like a trip hop track and is far removed from the album’s chaotic opening. But ‘Orbit’ takes us back into their comfort zone. It’s a fun, furious sounding song that builds and builds before each raucous chorus. It’s another song that seems to walk the line between the first two albums, leaving me with a sense that the band felt ready to bring together disparate elements of their personalities and musical proclivities and create their most complete sounding work so far. Dream Wife should appeal to such a wide range of people – they have bags of personality, they’re heaps of fun, they’re not afraid to use their music to fight for a cause, but they’re equally happy to try things that other bands might think would dampen their cool image. They’re loud and frantic, yet their songs are full of great pop hooks. Put simply, they’re class – and so is Social Lubrication.
Words by Fran Slater
Picky Bastards 