The Hidden Messages of Dry Cleaning

Florence Shaw joined Dry Cleaning after a career as a visual artist and lecturer, encouraged by Tom Dowse, the band's guitarist, who knew her from the Royal College of Art. Dowse and the other members played her demos of the band and invited her to rehearsals, convincing her to participate. Shaw brings with her a unique approach: lyrics drawn from notes, conversations and direct observations of everyday life. The London quartet - Shaw, Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard and drummer Nick Buxton - explores social anxiety and the everyday. It does so over post-punk settings, releasing two EPs in 2019. Between 2021 and 2023 come the albums 'New Long Leg' and 'Stumpwork', in which the band weaves witty art-rock with lyrics that capture the surreal in everyday life. All, however, firmly anchored in a sometimes cynical realism.

'Secret Love', the group's third album, features production by Cate Le Bon. Recording began in a rehearsal room in South London, where all four members wrote, rehearsed and responded to each other's ideas. Sessions continue at Jeff Tweedy's Loft in Chicago, at Sonic studio in Dublin with members of the Gilla Band, and end at the Black Box in the Loire in France.

Le Bon was fascinated by the group, in fact 'being together in a room', she explains, means that she 'can feel that vitality and strength that exists between them, which is really unique'. The cover of 'Secret Love' is a painting by Canadian artist Erica Eyres in which Shaw is depicted reclining backwards while someone washes one of her eyes, forcibly holding it open. The image oscillates between a caring gesture and an invasive act, and in this ambiguity concentrates the meaning of the album. Indeed, 'Secret Love' moves in the same unstable territory: the need to expose oneself and, at the same time, the temptation to disappear. It is a continuous exercise in control. An oscillation between moments when you can afford to give in and those where you need to stiffen up. It is a defence mechanism against impostor politicians, unscrupulous opportunists and predatory influencers. Showing oneself thus becomes a risky act, never entirely innocent, always exposed to misunderstanding and abuse.

The album opens with 'Hit My Head All Day', in which Shaw punctuates words about manipulation and social pressure - 'Life, a series of memories and signals telling us this or that' - while synths and guitars create unpredictable textures. The pop of "Cruise Ship Designer" describes a character who designs cruise ships with irony, while bass and guitars accompany the spoken voice. In "My Soul/Half Pint", the dark "Blood" and the angry "Rocks" the sound bends to the normalisation of violence and frustration with the socio-political climate we live in. Tracks like "The Cute Things" introduce guitar solos in the style of arena pop, while "Let Me Grow And You'll See The Fruit", the satire of "Evil Evil Idiot", the sparse "I Need You" and the title track "Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy)" complete the setlist, alternating ironic moments with structured musical sequences, always maintaining the consistency of the spoken-word vocals and the band's post-punk approach open to contamination.