Dry Cleaning

Dry Cleaning formed in South London in 2017 when guitarist Tom Dowse and drummer Nick Buxton — both veterans of the local scene, including the indie band La Shark — recruited bassist Lewis Maynard and then, crucially, Florence Shaw. Shaw was a visiting arts lecturer with no prior band experience, and the decision to have her speak rather than sing was not a compromise but a revelation. Her delivery — flat, precise, and loaded with found text, overheard conversation, and private observation — gave the band an immediately identifiable identity.

Two EPs, 'Sweet Princess' (2018) and 'Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks' (2019), built a devoted following before the band signed to 4AD in 2020. Their debut album 'New Long Leg' (2021), produced by John Parish at Rockfield Studios in Wales, was one of the most acclaimed British records of its year — debuting at number four on the UK Albums Chart and earning comparisons to Wire, Magazine, and Joy Division. Shaw's lyrics, drawn from her own writings rather than found texts for the first time, gave the record an intimacy that cut through the band's angular precision.

'Stumpwork' (2022), again produced by John Parish at Rockfield, expanded the palette — jangle-pop, funk, and a wider tonal range sat alongside the post-punk rigour of the debut. Shaw improvised much of the album's lyrics during studio sessions, drawing on observations from her London walks. The album's artwork won the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2024, a recognition that felt entirely appropriate for a band whose visual identity is as considered as their sound.

Their third album, 'Secret Love' (2026), was recorded with Welsh producer Cate Le Bon at Black Box Studios in the Loire Valley, France — sessions that also involved members of Gilla Band in Dublin. It marked a further evolution: Shaw began singing for choruses rather than speaking throughout, and the band's sound opened into something more expansive without losing its essential strangeness. The deluxe edition, released digitally in July 2026, added three further tracks from the Le Bon sessions.