Jess Makler (unslump.substack.com)
“Don’t give up on being sweet”, sings Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw in her signature monotone on the South London four-piece’s latest, Secret Love. An ode to the strength of the band’s connection amidst civic unrest and political upheaval, each song is a souvenir in the group’s worn luggage of avant-pop creativity.
Cobbled together in Peckham rehearsal rooms, Jeff Tweedy’s Chicago studio, and Gilla Band’s Allan Duggan and Daniel Fox’s Dublin space before getting shipped off to Cate Le Bon in The Loire Valley, Secret Love is like a worn jacket, slipping on seamlessly and patched up to perfection.
Inspired by postcards and ephemera picked up by Shaw in her travels, songs cover topics ranging from designing cruise ships (“Cruise Ship Designer”), longing for connection despite the lurking feeling others are repulsed by you (“Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit”), and going floppy with your friends (“Joy”).
Fans of Cate Le Bon’s recently produced works such as Horsegirl’s Phonetics On and On will recognize the distinct attention to space, each instrument allowed to breathe and exist within conversation with the subject material. As Shaw sings of her resentment of house cleaning on “My Soul Half Pint,” the track weaves easily between reflections on feminism and a seemingly out of place yet incredibly welcome guitar solo from the talented Tom Dowse.
Opening track “Hit My Head All Day” reads like a Gang of Four performance piece, Lewis Maynard’s galloping bassline complementing drummer Nick Buxton’s harsh snare hits sublimely. The playful nature of “Rocks” is perfect for doing love spells in your parents’ basement, the Phantom of the Opera-styled guitar riff bringing life to a track about the incoherence of love.
Dry Cleaning’s third album is confident as the band itself and steeped in identity. After 2021’s New Long Leg and 2022’s Stumpwork, the band has found their footing in no wave musicianship, a gentle balance between forlorn reflections and desperate, daydreaming swirls.