Dry Cleaning announce their new album, Secret Love, out January 9th on 4AD and release the lead single, ‘Hit My Head All Day.’ Secret Love is the finest expression yet of the profound friendships between front person Florence Shaw, guitarist Tom Dowse, drummer Nick Buxton and bassist Lewis Maynard. Here, the south London four-piece take their place in rock’s avant garde, catalysing the Reaganite paranoia of early 80s US punk and hardcore with the dry strut of Keith Richards, stoner rock, dystopian degradation, playful no wave and pastoral fingerpicking, while Florence’s delivery, meticulously calibrated to her bandmates’ soundscapes, asserts her in a lineage of spoken-word artists stretching from Laurie Anderson to Life Without Buildings’ Sue Tompkins.
The follow-up to Stumpwork, one of 2023’s most beloved records, Secret Love started life in Peckham rehearsal spaces, all four members writing, playing and responding to each other in the room: in Dry Cleaning, music and lyrics form an inseparable, generative whole. Secret Love evolved through affirming sessions at Jeff Tweedy’s Chicago studio, The Loft, and explosive ones with Gilla Band’s Alan Duggan and Daniel Fox at Sonic Studios in Dublin, taking advantage of the sonic particulars of each space, and finally, with Cate Le Bon at Black Box in the Loire Valley. After interviewing various potential producers, they picked Cate—an esteemed solo artist who has also produced albums for Deerhunter, Devendra Banhart, Wilco and Horsegirl—for her unabashed positivity and openness. “Being in a room with them and hearing that vitality and life force that exists between them all, it’s such a unique expression,” Le Bon says.
Trust is Secret Love’s guiding theme, as signified by today’s compulsively catchy single and album opener, ‘Hit My Head All Day.’ Powered by pistons of breathy synths and cresting arcs of guitar, Florence’s signature mix of absurdism and sensitivity shines through.
“The song is about manipulation of the body and mind,” Florence explains. “The lyrics were initially inspired by the use of misinformation on social media by the far right. There are powerful people that seek to influence our behaviour for their own gain; to buy certain things, to vote a certain way. I find it hard to read people’s intentions and decide who to trust, even in everyday life. It’s easy to fall under the influence of a sinister stranger who seems like a friend. We took a playful approach to the song. At one point it had harmonica on it instead of a vocal. At the demo stage we were inspired by There’s a Riot Goin’ On by Sly and the Family Stone.” The song arrives with an accompanying visualiser featuring movement by choreographer dance duo BULLYACHE.
Watch the Visualizer for ‘Hit My Head All Day’
‘Hit My Head All Day’ Single Artwork by Erica Eyres
Secret Love will be available digitally, on CD, cassette, black vinyl, limited edition Apricot vinyl (4AD store & indie retail) and Pearl/Arctic vinyl (Rough Trade exclusive). An exclusive run of white labels of Secret Love will be available to order for 48 hours only from today via the 4AD store, and a small quantity of JCD’s will be available exclusively on Bandcamp. A limited number of signed photo prints will also be available via 4AD and select indie stores.
Dry Cleaning
Secret Love
Tracklist
- Hit My Head All Day
- Cruise Ship Designer
- My Soul / Half Pint
- Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy)
- Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit
- Blood
- Evil Evil Idiot
- Rocks
- The Cute Things
- I Need You
- Joy
Dry Cleaning Online:
Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook
Praise for Stumpwork
“[Florence Shaw] pours out a wasteland of poetry fragments like a post-postmodernist T.S. Eliot (though with even more non-sequiturs).” – Rolling Stone
“In many ways, Stumpwork is the classic sophomore record: It is an update to a tried-and-true formula that won’t scare off the fans they made before, but will find subtle ways to surprise them.” – The Ringer
“If you prefer your blank detachment with top notes of mordant, self-defeating wit and a bone-dry finish, Florence Shaw is your woman.” – Pitchfork
“Stumpwork is very much its own moody, nuanced animal, an expressive and expectation-defying showcase of Dry Cleaning’s blossoming sound.” – Paste, 50 Best Albums of 2022
“The South London indie quartet similarly defy rock cliché and mine absurdist situations over a further ten angular tracks on this humorous, well-observed, and tightly played album.” – PopMatters, Best Albums of 2022
