New Music: Friedberg – Goodwife

There’s a serious story behind the lowdown, funked-up groove of Goodwife, but the vibe of the track sells that sensitively.

The new single from Friedberg, a London-based collective helmed by Austrian musician Anna Friedberg, was co-produced with Daniel Brandt and Hot Chip’s Al Doyle and Joe Goddard, and you can hear the influence of the latter two in the tightly-drawn, groove-centric flow of the track. There are some neat twists and turns in the track, leaving you not quite sure what to think. It gets you thinking, though, and dancing too.

At times you’ll think Friedberg’s vocals are sensual, then suddenly they seem careworn; there’s a section where the vocal melody could be alluding to Inner City’s Good Life. Maybe Friedberg is showing us what could have been, should have been, as it places the actual life of someone close to the artist in sharp relief.

Goodwife comes from a very personal place for Friedberg, who was previously known as Anna F.; it references the life of her grandmother. Says the artist,

“My grandmother was in an abusive marriage, and I wanted to write my way into her head and give her a different marriage – even though she wasn’t around to have one anymore. She was smart, read constantly, loved poetry, but her husband couldn’t handle her having a life outside of him. There’s something pointed about calling it Goodwife at this point – it’s about ditching the co-dependency and being good to yourself instead of everyone else for once.”

She adds, “Decades later, women are still fighting for the same basic safety: on campuses, in relationships, everywhere. That’s why this one matters so much to me.”

Goodwife is the title track on the upcoming sophomore album from Friedberg, which is out in April 2027 via Clouds Hill. The album can be pre-ordered on vinyl and CD via Bandcamp. For album updates and artist news, make sure to follow Friedberg on Instagram or Facebook.