Dry Cleaning – Secret Love
“Life, a series of memorials and signals telling us this or that.” The first sentence spoken by Florence Shaw on Secret Love introduces the album with a certainty of cynicism. Presenting these thoughts on “Hit My Head All Day” against a punchy, addictive guitar lick and infectious bassline finds the London post-punk group starting off their latest album on their finest footing yet. With the opening track’s instrumentals seamlessly blending into Shaw’s subdued vocals, their sound has honed itself into a vibrant color palette of brighter punk rock. Yet there’s something unsettling about the severity of this opening thought, life being reduced to “memorials and signals.” But within Secret Love, these startling markers of reality help us navigate the chaos.
Secret Love, Dry Cleaning’s follow-up to 2022’s Stumpwork, is the group’s most collaborative set of songs to date, as well as their strongest. With all eleven tracks workshopped by the four members—vocalist Shaw joined by guitarist Tom Dowse, drummer Nick Buxton and bassist Lewis Maynard—they took their tracks to other artists to help fully unravel them, including Cate Le Bon, who produced the album. Le Bon’s own recent releases lend themselves to this sometimes hard-to-pin-down genre. Their collaboration shines through on this sometimes unpredictable terrain and the production has a crystalline, precise hue. Dry Cleaning dip their toes into post punk, light pop, airy folk, venturing into something indescribable that exists on a higher plane of musical awareness. On “Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy)” there’s a brash, plucky guitar riff that almost has a waddling quality to it, met later in the track by a dreamy mandolin line that nearly sheds a glimmer of hope. But at the same time, Shaw speaks of a “mouth of hell” and her vocals instill a sense of dread.
It’s the blending of all of these sensations that allow Dry Cleaning to succeed on Secret Love. Their blunt instrumentals cut through Shaw’s brutal lyricism. Yet at the same time, the writing is a crucial piece of the puzzle. This time around, Shaw allowed more of herself to peek through while writing Secret Love. In a press release, she said, “It always makes me feel calm when people are sharing hidden stuff.. I spend a lot of time thinking about people’s intentions, trying to get to the bottom of what they’re saying underneath what they’re doing.” On the blunt, brilliant track “My Soul / Half Pint,” Shaw releases her frustration with the gendered work of cleaning. It’s not the first time that an artist has expressed resentment towards this sort of thing, but Shaw’s approach to the material is brimming with a feeling of catharsis, sneering at the obnoxious nature of it all, laid against a cheeky piano line as she sings, “Maybe it’s time for men to clean for, like, 500 years,” the daydreaming quality almost acting as a rush of dopamine.
While much of the thoughts expressed on Secret Love lean into a darker material, its closing track, the aptly titled “Joy,” aims for a hopeful note to end on. Melodically, it has a folk-like quality to it, with brighter percussion and a rare moment of vocal harmonization for Shaw. It culminates in the band members blending their respective sounds into a melodic bloom, Shaw remarking, “we’ll build a cute harmless world.” While Dry Cleaning does not shy away from the gritty, grisly sides of life, it’s a charming way to close their album, imagining the landscape they might just bring to fruition.
Label: 4AD
Year: 2026
Similar Albums:
Dry Cleaning : Secret Love
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
