The Brits always seem to deliver a steady slew of incredible music from across the pond and a strong set of female musicians at that too, including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Florence Welch (of Florence & The Machine), Annie Lennox, and now rising new wave-art punk trio, Dream Wife.

The trio is comprised of Rakel Mjöll (she/her), Alice Go (she/her), and Bella Podpadec (they/them) and their new album, Social Lubrication, now available via Lucky Number.

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Bella and talk to her about the band’s origins, third album Social Lubrication, and upcoming possible tour plans.

Northern Transmissions: Did the three of you know each other prior to the meeting during school for your “art school project” or did you meet at school?

Bella PodPadec: Alice and I met each other at 15, so we had already known each other for a long time. I had actually ended up moving in with Rakel, so we were already housemates and best friends.

NT: At that moment in time, did you ever feel like it was going to continue on to be an actual full-fledged band?

BP: The joke was that we wanted to go to Canada, so why don’t we start a band, and go on tour, and go tour Canada?! And so no, initially, it was just to be an experiment. It kind of kept going, we have so much fun on the road.

NT: You have a new record being released on June 9. What was the process of writing and recording the record like?

BP: We spent a long time trying to write this record. We spent a long time trying to write a lot
of stuff.

NT: And the entire record was self-written, correct?

BP: Oh yeah, absolutely. Our drummer, Alex Paveley, also writes with us. As a fan, you can see the live stuff, you get to see what we are at the rock show.

NT: Talk a little bit about some of the topics you discuss in the songs and what you want your listeners to take away from them.

BP: There are a lot of different themes on the record. I think that there’s liberation, horniness, a very horny album, bouncy, it’s very energy in places. It’s very seek-to-serve, creating new realities and new spaces.

NT: In your latest single, “Who Do You Wanna Be?” you take on capitalism and faux-activism. Talk a little more about what inspired that song.

BP: There’s a lot of stuff in that song, even stuff about environmental issues, speaking attention between the feeling of hopelessness and of the big oil companies and brainwashing of how you can buy another thing, it will make you better, you take another pill, etc., the mindfulness of productivity. All of this is true, this is happening, It’s very easy to be jaded in the face of it, but you still have autonomy, the power to make decisions and effects. The power of the feeling of unity and collaboration. It plays into power where you can it’s like, an invitation into a better standing, and also like the power of collective action

NT: Lastly, we know you have an extensive UK tour, and a few U.S. dates, but do you plan to have a more extensive U.S./North American tour in the future?

BP: Yes, there is nothing set in stone, but we are talking about a more extensive tour in the springtime. I think, I can’t say for sure, but we’re really hoping to, ideally, come back to Canada. We really love playing in Canada.

Order Social Lubrication by Dream Wife HERE