Dry Cleaning blend stream-of-consciousness observations with inventive instrumentation on their latest offering.
All buddies before they started a band in their thirties, these South Londoners employ a striking sonic palette capped off with frontperson Florence Shaw’s beguiling sprechgesang musings (eg. “When I was a child I wanted to be a horse, eating onions, carrots, celery…”). Shaw’s words hit like an internal monologue, voiced in real time.
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With its unhurried pace, panting vocal percussion, strutting bassline and wailing guitar, opener Hit My Head All Day is fiercely original. Written around the last US presidential election, the album’s no-wave lead single explores online misinformation and manipulation.
At the conclusion of Cruise Ship Designer – what a novel concept! – Shaw deadpans, “I make sure there are hidden messages in my work” – how meta is that?
Shaw confesses she loves tidying, but finds cleaning “demeaning” during My Soul/Half Pin. Preserving a confidential crush for eternity, Secret Love (Concealed In A Drawing Of A Boy) is resplendent with magical mandolin playing.
Soothing guitar melodies and the unexpected lustre of brass categorise Let Me Grow And You’ll See The Fruit: “I yearn for a friend who I can tell my secrets to/ Why does the past hurt me so?/ The world is laughing at me/ I am such a disaster…” – feelings of inadequacy permeate through.
Joy’s lyrics were initially pieced together from vintage ads in Virginia Tech University’s History Of Food And Drink archive, which brings Bowie’s cut-up technique to mind.
Guitarist Tom Dowse’s bursts of insistent strumming enhance this rim click-heavy closer, which signs off optimistically: “Don’t give up on being sweet.”
LABEL: 4AD/REMOTE CONTROL
