Dream Wife: "It was a real practicing-what-we-preach situation"

"I'm hoping for the abolition of capitalism," Bella Podpadec declares, "but I guess if that happens, it probably isn't good news for the band?" she laughs. You don't need us to tell you good news has been in somewhat short supply of late. We're in the middle of a global pandemic. The country is struggling through a state of imposed lockdown. Entire industries are on hold – live music among them – for the foreseeable imminent future. This isn't how they planned to release their second record, but as they always set out to, Dream Wife are using their platform to make a difference where they can.

In this uncertain period of isolation, a sense of community is hard to find. But fostering a sense of community – a space for their audience to be empowered, a space for womxn to be the 'Bad Bitches' they are – is what Dream Wife are all about. When it came to recording their second album last year, working with an all-female production team was something the trio knew they had to do. "It was a real practicing-what-we-preach situation," Alice Go recalls.

Resolved to (as they sing on lead single 'Sports!') "put your money where your mouth is," the band found the collaborator they were looking for in Marta Salogni (whose previous credits include working with the likes of Björk, FKA Twigs, and Frank Ocean). "Less than 5% of albums are produced by female-identifying people," Alice informs. "It felt like a really important thing for this [record] to be produced by Marta and this incredible team of women," she enthuses. "It's the reason we do this."

Described with much laughter from the band as "what happens when you stop touring," 'So When You Gonna…' is Dream Wife turned up to eleven: their boldest, brashest, most tongue-in-cheek, and most emotionally exposed yet. "This band has just been full-on go, go, go, since we started," Rakel Mjöll reflects. After promoting their debut album with a hectic tour schedule that saw the band play over 200 shows in 18 months, the trio took six weeks off, "including Christmas!" Rakel laughs. "That was the longest time that we had actually been apart from each other."