Dream Wife’s debut album was a serious little thing. It focused on feminism, sexual harassment, the fucked up side of the music industry, and more. It was heavy, too. A really fierce album at times. Over the following two albums they showed another side to themselves, writing simpler songs about fun topics such as wanting someone to kiss them, thinking about going to a sex party but only having cotton underwear available, and not dating musicians. I’ve loved everything they’ve released, but there have been times during album two and three that I missed some of the bite of that first LP and wondered why and how they have evolved in the way that they have.
Seeing them in Manchester last Thursday night, I think my questions were answered. It feels like that first album gave the opportunity to get a lot of things off their chest and that now, as they progress through their careers and gain confidence, they are more able to show the funny, raucous traits that makes them so much fucking fun to watch. ‘Curious’, for example, has been one of the songs that felt a little too silly for me on record – but as Rakel Mjoll repeated the line ‘I feel too sexy to listen to my friends’ into her microphone you couldn’t help but admire the joy and abandon with which she made the statement. Seeing them perform this song (and others) you see why they can make a song like this work in a way that other bands wouldn’t be able to – because they know how to not take themselves too seriously.
The setlist really did lean heavily into the fun side of the band, too. An opening half which featured ‘Social Lubrication’, ‘Hey Heartbreaker’, ‘So When You Gonna’, and ‘Hot (Don’t Date A Musician)’ was never meant to be hugely thought provoking. They were here to make us smile and jump around. And from the looks on the faces of the band and audience it was clear that they were being very successful in this mission. There’s an energy and chemistry in this band that is rare to see and even if you hated their music, it would be hard to watch them perform and not feel a little bit of joy.
‘Somebody’ was the first semi-serious time of the night and it was a standout, too. Rakel standing centre stage and repeating the line ‘I am not my body I am somebody’ was a powerful moment and it was particularly nice to see that there were several sets of mothers and daughters in the room singing the words to each other. And as if to prove that they haven’t moved away from such topics in their later work, ‘Leech’ was another highlight in a set without a dull moment. The band have a knack for making a simple line feel meaningful and the repeated refrain of ‘just have some fucking empathy’ means so much wore when screamed in this way.
The set finished with their strongest song ‘F.U.U.’ This is the band at their most aggressive, their most powerful, and their most unique – it might be hard for them to ever better this song, so it is a fitting closer as always. But it would be remiss to finish this review without once again returning to how much fun Dream Wife had on stage at Canvas – from the cover of Tatu’s ‘All The Things She Said’, to the guitar duel interlude in the middle of ‘Sports’, via every shout, flick of the hair, and laugh at their own lyrics – this was a band in their element. A total joy to witness.
Words by Fran Slater
Picky Bastards 