Released: 3rd July 2020
Rating: ★★★★★
Dream Wife ain’t here to play it nice. When the opening track kicks off with an order to ‘Serve it! Smash it! Win it! Own it!’ you know they won’t be fooling around but killing it. ‘So When You Gonna…’ puts our favourite fierce trio back on the track to kick the patriarchal ass.
After releasing a brilliant debut album, as Dream Wife did, it’s not easy to satisfy the demanding audience. You need to go the extra mile. That’s exactly what they did, re-applying their riot grrrl meets groovy glam formula to the modern battles for better today. It’s a match ‘n’ mix of the X-Ray Spex raw energy and a game of peek-a-boo with their more intimate side. Crispy, punky and relevant. They take a driver seat in the ride to gender equality, joyful body awareness and a love-mess. Accepting the negativity to make the space for the great things to come. Here and now.
‘So When You Gonna…’ is less consistent, genre and thematically-wise than their debut. It serves a power-loaded Bikini Kill-like bangers, the titular ‘So When You Gonna…’, a spiced-up invitation for flirtation and promotion of a candid consent, and ‘Sports!’, an absurdly thrilling celebration of the body/spirit union and a satire on the macho sports culture. Then we’ve got Dream Wife at their poppiest in ‘Hasta La Vista’, a sour-sweet way of saying goodbye, and ‘After Rain’, a heartfelt cry upon abortion/miscarriage and a pro-choice anthem. Dream Wife proves that they are as capable to scream their lungs off on the social injustice or simply from hedonistic pleasure, as they not afraid to confront their demons and show softer side while doing it, both sonically and lyrically.
They invite the new generation of creatives to simply go for it, with a guitar-ridden urgency. No rest for the wicked, right? No better time to support your collective than now. This Dream Wife is not interested in settling down with one sound or genre. She’s having an affair with power, and she’s not afraid to use it on anyone who stands in the way to freedom and fun.
‘So When You Gonna…’ is a fierce fest, exhibiting womxn heart from the inside-out and calling on all the warriors out there – keep on, we’ve got your backs. Dream Wife are here to make Kathleen Hanna proud and give nightmares to anyone who’d dare to define them. They’re back and ready to slay.
Aleksandra Brzezicka
