Dry Cleaning share ‘Gary Ashby’. The new single from their second album Stumpwork, out 21 October, follows the travails of a beloved family tortoise lost in lockdown (“Have you seen Gary?”).
Loaded with melodious hooks, the 2-minute jangle pop song is “a lament about a pet tortoise, escaped as a result of family chaos,” explains the band. “We wrote it in December 2020, one of the first new songs after the New Long Leg session.”
To support the release of Stumpwork, Dry Cleaning announced their debut Australia & New Zealand Tour, playing shows in Auckland, Wellington, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Full tour details here.
The breadth of influences on Stumpwork is dizzying, a definitive rebuke to those who might reduce Dry Cleaning as a post-punk band. Their music is bolder and more expansive, Shaw’s lyrics explore not only loss and detachment but all the twists and turns, simple joys and minor gripes of human experience too. Ultimately, what emerges from it all is a subtle but assertive optimism, and a lesson in the value of curiosity.
Stream / purchase ‘Gary Ashby’ here.
Pre-order / pre-save Stumpwork here.
‘Gary Ashby’ is taken from forthcoming album ‘Stumpwork’, out October 21st on 4AD.
