Posts Tagged ‘Florence Shaw’’

DRY CLEANING – ” New Long Leg “

Posted: March 31, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Dry Cleaning

The latest single from their debut LP “New Long Leg”, Dry Cleaning have shared a video for their new song “Unsmart Lady,” the latest single from their debut album New Long Leg. Check out the Tilly Shiner–directed clip, which features the band performing in a South London carpet shop, Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw, who wrote the lyrics, said in a statement: ““Fat podgy, non make-up’—I was thinking about these things that are supposed to be a source of shame about your appearance and wanting to use them in a powerful way. Just trying to survive when you feel knackered and put-upon and shit about yourself, but you say, ‘I don’t care what I’m supposed to be.’” 

New Long Leg is the band’s first release since signing to 4AD Records. Dry Cleaning have previously shared videos for “Strong Feelings” and “Scratchcard Lanyard.” The band released two EPs in 2019: Sweet Princess and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks.

You’ll be hearing more about Dry Cleaning in the coming days, but at the centre of it all is New Long Leg, their forthcoming debut album, which we’ve been looking forward to for months. Their stylishly alchemic art-rock juxtaposes nervy instrumentation from guitarist Tom Dowse, drummer Nick Buxton and bassist Lewis Maynard with vocalist Florence Shaw’s hypnotic spoken-word delivery, running hot and cool at the same time. From locked-in opener “Scratchcard Lanyard” to sprawling closer “Every Day Carry,” New Long Leg is an enthralling first full-length effort from the London quartet.

‘Unsmart Lady‘, from Dry Cleaning’s debut album ‘New Long Leg’. Released 2nd April on 4AD records. 

DRY CLEANING – ” Scratchcard Lanyard “

Posted: November 28, 2020 in MUSIC
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London-based band Dry Cleaning have shared their new single “Scratchcard Lanyard,” which also serves as their debut release with 4AD Records and should appear on their debut album, which is on the horizon soon.

The band has shared the creative music video for the song which marks the directorial debut of artist duo Rottingdean Bazaar which sees vocalist Florence Shaw singing in a miniature nightclub that is shot in a stylistic fashion. The song itself is a compelling art-punk rock effort that has some sharp angular guitar riffs that perfectly set the table for Shaw’s delivery that feels like a mix between Protomartyr, U.S. Girls and Parquet Courts. All good things.

‘Scratchcard Lanyard’ is a treatise on the joy of life’s little pleasures, where air fresheners become mighty oaks and Instagram filters are glamourous holiday destinations. The South London band explain further – “In the search for your true calling in life, it’s easy to try so many things that you end up confused. It can lead to an enormous build-up of frustration. You may fantasise about exacting revenge upon your real or imagined enemies. Ephemeral things and small-scale escapist experiences can provide some relief!”

The companion video for ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’  riffing on the song’s celebration of the humdrum – inserts vocalist Florence Shaw into her own miniature night club. Rottingdean Bazaar are artists James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks. Their work includes design, creative direction and fine art practices, and the duo live and work in Rottingdean, East Sussex in the UK.

Dry Cleaning is Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Florence Shaw (vocals). Firm friends for years, they only started making music after a karaoke party in 2017 inspired a collaboration. They wrote instrumentally to begin with and six months later Shaw, a university lecturer and picture researcher by day, joined on vocals with no prior musical experience. 

Dry Cleaning’s music is simple – direct and uncomplicated. The Feelies, the Necessaries, the B52s and Pylon all served as inspirations when the band first came together. The small and intimate garage / rehearsal space had a huge influence on the sound; both of last year’s EPs Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks and Sweet Princess were written here. The quartet have finished work on their debut album, with details to follow soon. 

Dry Cleaning share the song ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’, the group’s first release on 4AD Records.

DRY CLEANING – ” Sweet Princess EP “

Posted: December 15, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Dry Cleaning, London, June 2019. Picture credit: Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz

Dry Cleaning came together in a somewhat atypical way — three musicians who’d already been through the ringer with failed projects, finding their spark with a front woman who had no musical experience. That’s also what makes them special, with Florence Shaw’s deadpan-then-vicious spoken word delivery adding a new twist on Dry Cleaning’s gritty post-punk. Her lyrics come from stray details and overheard conversations and YouTube detritus — the jumble of a mind in an era of too much information and too many stimuli, the outpouring of it all ultimately making Dry Cleaning somehow therapeutic.

For anyone looking to get a quick sense of the vibe of the bracing debut EP from the London group Dry Cleaning, vocalist Florence Shaw provides a tip right out of the gate: “During what was probably the longest two-and-a-half months of my life after a near death experience, I could not sleep/…The only thing that kept me going was Saw 2.” Dry Cleaning—emphasis on “dry”—use bleak humor and acid sarcasm as a way to cut life’s thousand tiny indignities down to size. You have to be a sharp writer to make this kind of withering wit work, but fortunately, Shaw is one of the sharpest. When a date goes south and Shaw returns from the bathroom to discover her would-be partner has ghosted, she offers, “I thought you liked me, but maybe I was just a captive audience. You did seem a bit bored when I was talking.” In “The Magic of Meghan” (which certainly appears to be about a member of the Royal Family, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions), Shaw tartly observes, “Never has one outfit been designed to send so many messages/ Earrings to empower women/ Bag that helps charity/ jeans made in Wales/ Cruelty-free coat.” Come to think of it, that line may be appreciative rather than cutting, but that’s one of the things that makes Shaw’s writing so good—it’s beguilingly difficult to read.

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The band surrounds her verse with the kind of jabbing guitars and lockstep rhythms that defined their home country’s post-punk years, bands like Delta 5 and the Au Pairs. Shaw would probably hate that comparison—but I bet she’d write a killer song about it.