Post-Punk Band 'Dry Cleaning' Has Quickly Become Our New 'Secret Love'

https://drycleaningband.com/

Rumor has it that Dry Cleaning decided their third LP, ‘Secret Love’, should take inspiration from the sort of soundscape you would hear wandering about a bustling urban setting. And while you can hear this apt comparison in the conversational style of singing (if you still consider performance by London quartet vocalist Florence Shaw to be “singing”), this idea rears itself most prominently in the sheer amount of noise present in nearly every track.

In an interview with Apple Music, Guitarist Tom Dowse shares, “We wanted to push the album a bit more sonically, we’re being a bit more expansive and working with some different textures.” This could apply to the overall sonic lexicon of the album; their instrumental tones are grittier and more abrasive here. However, there are many side streets the album ventures down that this could also be referencing, even if only for a few minutes before returning to the main boulevard; tracks such as ‘I Need You’, and ‘The Cute Things’ with their textured yet stripped down synth-based production rank among some of the “most different” among Dry Cleaning’s entire catalog, displaying just how self-realized this project is.

The personal standout and track that first alerted me to this project is ‘Cruise Ship Designer’ (make sure to watch the music video below!), a favorite because while the way-out, experimental aspects of all Dry Cleaning’s songs are greatly appreciated, something about the particular interwoven cadence of Shaw’s lyrical prowess and bold, catchy rifts provided by both guitarist Tom Dowse and bassist Lewis Maynard shine particularly bright on an album already so full of shiny tracks.