Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2017, Blaðsíða 37

Music
The Dream Wife
Never Existed
Rakel Mjöll and Dream Wife reclaim the female body

Words: Steindór Grétar Jónsson Photo: Holly Fernando
“Thank you so much to whoever
pissed these girls off,” reads the
top YouTube comment on Dream
Wife's “FUU” video. FUU stands,
of course, for “fuck you up.” The
song—a turbulent, semi-impro-
vised, ever-changing staple of the
three-piece band's
live sets—includes
a spoken word riff
on the Spice Girls'
“Wannabe” and cul-
minates with lead
singer Rakel Mjöll
L ei f sdót t i r, a nd
guest rapper Fever
Dream, shouting: “I spy with my
little eye: bad bitches!”
“I'm very lucky to be in an amaz-
ing creative environment with lots
of women focussing on the arts,”
says Rakel, the lone Icelander in
the all-girl London outfit, who’ve
been taking the UK by storm with
their self-described “poolside pop
with a bite.” Rakel met her band-
mates Alice and Bella at art school
in Brighton, where she studied
performance and video art. Dream
Wife’s arts background is easy to
spot in their colourful visual style,
their electric live performances,
and their new “Somebody” video,
which is already making waves
ahead of their recently completed
debut album. It’s set for a fall re-
lease—2017 is going to be a busy
year for Dream Wife.
In fact, it already has been.
Rakel is just back from a tour of
the UK and the US
that included shows
at top US indus-
try festival South
by Southwest. “We
played nine shows
in Texas in a week,
and then tou red
California with the
Kills, one of our favorite bands,”
Rakel reflects. “Austin is an amaz-
ing city, a cowboy town. Everyone’s
friendly... even if they're carrying a
gun.”
Personal stories
“I am not my body, I am somebody,”
Rakel sings in the new single’s
chorus, in her trademark staccato
style. The inspiration for “Some-
body” comes from the SlutWalk,
the grassroots protest march that
calls for an end to rape culture. The
first Reykjavík rally took place in
2011 and it’s been an annual event
since, spawning multiple social
media insurgencies. “I was in
London, but it was all over social
media,” says Rakel. “Families, ev-
ery table in every café, everyone
discussing these personal stories.
My friends in London noticed it,
including my bandmates. In Ice-
land it's becoming normal to talk
about sexism that you face, but not
so much in England. Icelandic girls
are incredibly brave.”
The opening lyrics are based on
Rakel's own experience of sharing a
distressing story of sexual assault
with a friend, the day after it took
place. The now-former friend re-
plied: “You were a cute girl standing
backstage, it was bound to happen.”
This victim-blaming and glib dis-
missal left Rakel numb—then an-
gry. “The song just came out in one
solid motion in the studio,” Rakel
explains. “We never wrote a song
like this before. It's not a hush-hush
subject anymore. ‘Somebody’ is
about reclaiming the female body.”
The band's glamorous-sound-
ing name is in itself commentary
on the objectification of women.
“The idea is this 1950s, Mad Men
stereotype—the dream wife that
comes with the dream house, the
dream job and the dream car,” says
Rakel. “But humans don't have just
one side to them. The dream wife
never existed and never will. We
are incredibly many things as hu-
man beings.”
Flipping the script
Dream Wife's philosophy further
translates to their raucous live
performances. “We like playing
with people's expectations,” Rakel
explains. “Walking on stage, three
girls, seeming sweet and nice, then
we drop ‘Fuck You Up.’ The crowd
expects one thing and then we flip
the script. We enjoy showing the
different faces of a woman.”
Dream Wife did exactly that at
last November's Iceland Airwaves
festival. “We're a London band, but
I've got strong roots back home,”
says Rakel, who comes from a fam-
ily of artists that includes her uncle
Ragnar Kjartansson—the famed
performance artist from whom
she draws inspiration. “Playing
Harpa and Gamla Bíó was great,”
says Rakel, “performing for friends
and family. And the girls love Ice-
land too. Bella's even been to Vest-
mannaeyjar, for a month, working
in fish processing! When she tells
people, they don't believe her.”
LISTEN &SHARE: gpv.is/dmw05
37 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05 — 2017
“This victim-
blaming and glib
dismissal left
Rakel numb—
then angry.”
Dream Wife looking upward
and slightly to the right
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