Dream Wife – So When You Gonna…

An inspiring female-forward second album...

Dream Wife swing the bat on the glass ceiling from the very first “fuck” in ‘Sports!’ and and let the rampage begin.

“It’s all about opening the gates”, Bella explains. From the exclusively non-male team of creatives that worked on their album, to the focus of their upcoming podcast being on equipping people with tools they need to grow as a person, these three are set on raising up womxn and non-binary people in this patriarchal world. ‘So When You Gonna…’ rejects the idea that any question beginning with that prefix can be answered with “soon”. To tackle the issues at hand, we not only need to take action now, but know what we’re fighting against. And the trio have the blueprint for the battle. 

That sickening feeling of being displaced ripples through ‘Homesick’. “Chin up” they scream, you’ve got this and if not, then “I threw up all over you” is apparently the perfect reaction. Mixing humour with finding strength to continue against adversity and framing it within a multifaceted sound. From the punk screeches that punctuate the track, to the breathless spoken word that’s layered over a repetitive guitar loop. The track blends anger and calm and in pairing these emotions, it encapsulates the reality of confusion many have with our internal fights, normalising the pairing instead of labelling it as erratic or hyper-emotional.

Lessons wind their way through SWYG… as ‘Validation’ and ‘U Do U’ observe the ‘human tragedy’ of listening to other’s opinions and the time we waste on ‘fools that don’t value’ us. These two songs pair together beautifully in observing the ridiculous precedent that is set in society, that others need to approve your existence. Perhaps this is a genderless experience, but for non-male members of society, who constantly have their appearance and actions commented upon, it’s refreshing to have a voice standing up for us, instead of simply reinforcing this age old habit of critiquing one another.

There are so many sexist utterances that are so normalised within our society and they need to be called out but finding the words to express how incorrect these ingrained beliefs and actions are often feels unreachable. Dream Wife give us the exact tools to do just that, to articulate the faults of the world we live in. With a limitless blend of genres, there are songs that your pop princess can access alongside her punk sister, uniting them in their struggle.

After all “we are the youngest we will ever be, we are the oldest we have ever been” (‘RH RN’) so what better time to start?

9/10

Words: Megan Walder

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