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 will return 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.” Listen to the song below:
In addition to Dream Wife’s upcoming run in the U.S., the band today announce a handful of new European shows and festival appearances, and 5 further UK headline dates for early 2024. This October and November they will be touring widely across EU/UK/IE, including performing at Pitchfork Paris and their biggest London show to date, at Electric Brixton. See below to find a show near you and get your tickets HERE.
PURCHASE, DOWNLOAD & STREAM SOCIAL LUBRICATION NOW
Tracklisting:
1.Kick In The Teeth
2.Who Do You Wanna Be?
3.Hot (Don’t Date A Musician)
4.Social Lubrication
5.Mascara
6.Leech
7.I Want You
8.Curious
9.Honestly
10.Orbit
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.
Tour Dates (US in bold)
September 15th – Brooklyn, NY, USA @ Brooklyn Made
September 17th – Portland, OR, USA @ Mississippi Studios
September 18th – Seattle, WA, USA @ Barboza
September 20th – San Francisco, CA, USA @ Bottom Of The Hill
September 21st – Los Angeles, CA, USA @ Zebulon
October 5th – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall
October 6th – Birmingham, UK @ Castle & Falcon
October 7th – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew (Matinee show)
October 7th – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
October 8th – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
October 10th – Dublin, Ireland @ The Grand Social
October 11th – Limerick, Ireland @ Dolans
October 12th – Galway, Ireland @ Roisin Dubh
October 19th – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
November 4th – Brighton, UK @ Mutations Festival
November 6th – Paris, France @ Pitchfork Paris
November 7th – Rennes, France @ Ubu
November 8th – Amiens, France @ La Lune Des Pirates
November 10th – Strasbourg, France @ La Laiterie
November 11th – Mannheim, Germany @ Elektrik Pony Cup
November 12th – Kortrijk, Belgium @ Sonic City
November 14th – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen
November 15th – Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
November 16th – Berlin, Germany @ Gretchen
November 17th – Chemnitz, Germany @ Atomino
November 19th – Poznan, Poland @ Klub Pod Minoga
November 20th – Warsaw, Poland @ Voodoo
November 22nd – Prague, Czechia @ Cafe V Lese
November 23rd – Munich, Germany @ Ampere
November 24th – Milan, Italy @ Biko Club
November 25th – Annecy, France @ Le Brise Glace
November 27th – Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Razzmatazz 3
November 28th – Madrid, Spain @ Wurlitzer Ballroom
November 29th – San Sebastián, Spain @ Dabadaba
November 30th – La Rochelle, France @ La Sirene
December 2nd – Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Zeitgeist Festival
December 3rd – Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Rotown
January 6th – Bognor Regis, UK @ Rockaway Beach
February 13th – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
February 14th – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega Social Club
February 15th – Sheffield, UK @ Crookes Social Club
February 16th – Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
February 17th – Newcastle, UK @ The Grove
March 2nd – Athens, Greece @ Gagarin 205
More on Dream Wife & Social Lubrication:
Dream Wife have always been adept at merging the political with the playful, and Social Lubrication is no different. Vital statements are hidden within hot and heavy dancefloor anthems about making out, having fun and staying curious. In the band’s words, the album is: “Hyper lusty rock and roll with a political punch, exploring the alchemy of attraction, the lust for life, embracing community and calling out the patriarchy. With a healthy dose of playfulness and fun thrown in.” There is a sense of fun and openness that is central to Social Lubrication, as well. “There’s a lot of lust in this album and taking the piss out of yourself and everyone you know,” says Rakel. “It’s almost quite juvenile in that way.”
Also at the core of the album sits the live show. “The live show is the truth of the band,” says guitarist Go. “That’s at the heart of what we do and of the statements we’re making.” It’s this energetic, pedal-to-the-metal sound which wound up running through Social Lubrication like a live wire. You can hear it via the loud, dirty riffs and choruses built for dancing together in shared spaces. For Go, who produced the album, it was important to bottle this joyful, frenetic feeling within each song. “We wanted to get that rawness and energy across in a way that hadn’t been done before,” she says. The live show is, most importantly, where the band and fans come together.
In that way, Social Lubrication continues this celebration of community and is a middle finger to the societal barriers enforced to severe connection, playfulness, curiosity and sexual empowerment. “Music is one of the only forms of people experiencing an emotion together in a visceral, physical, real way,” says Go. “It’s cathartic to the systemic issues that are being called out across the board in the record. Music isn’t the cure, but it’s the remedy. That’s what Social Lubrication is: the positive glue that can create solidarity and community.”
“The album is speaking to systemic problems that cannot be glossed over by lube,” says Podpadec. “The things named in the songs are symptoms of f-ed up structures. And you can’t fix that. You need to pull it apart.”