Dry Cleaning are an English post-punk band who formed in South London in 2017. The band is composed of vocalist Florence Shaw, guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard, and drummer Nick Buxton. They are noted for their use of spoken word primarily in lieu of sung vocals, as well as their unconventional lyrics. Their musical style has been compared to Wire, Magazine and Joy Division.[3] They have been described as "Annette Peacock fronting the Fall or PiL or Siouxsie and the Banshees".[4]
After releasing two EPs, the band's debut album, New Long Leg, was released in April 2021, followed by Stumpwork in October 2022.
History
2017–2019: Formation, Sweet Princess, and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks
Before forming a band together in 2017,[5]South Londoners Tom Dowse, Nick Buxton, and Lewis Maynard had all known each other for years but had separately played in bands in the area.[6][3] Buxton and Maynard are former members of the indie band La Shark,[7] with whom they released music under the respective aliases NHA Buxton and Love Maynard.[8] Once they went into their thirties, their pursuits of a career in music became overshadowed by other ventures; Maynard worked with adults with learning disabilities, Dowse was a visiting arts lecturer at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, England, and Buxton built furniture. Nonetheless, in 2017 Dowse and Buxton asked Maynard if he wished to join a new band. Relegated to a pastime, the group practiced in Maynard's mother's garage on the weekends.[6] Despite initial intentions to just be a hobby between the three of them, they decided to take the band more earnestly after having a conversation in a Wimpy,[9] spending months writing music and forming the basis of what would become Dry Cleaning.[3] The trio still lacked a vocalist, though, and attempts to find a singer, including themselves,[9] were unfruitful.[10]
I think it was Tom [Dowse] that put the name forward. It's the same process when you name any band, when you're just trying to come up with a couple of words that mean something. It's kind of a ridiculous process and completely arbitrary, but we quite liked the domesticity of it.
In search for a different approach, Dowse thought of Florence Shaw, also a visiting university lecturer,[12] who each band member had met previously at various points during school.[5] The band invited Shaw to listen to demos they had made, and upon hearing her voice alongside the recordings, the trio convinced her to join in on a rehearsal session. Buxton reassured Shaw beforehand that she could perform spoken-word in lieu of singing and gave her a playlist consisting of "eccentric pop cuts" such as Grace Jones' cover of "Private Life" and a song by Will Powers to serve as potential inspiration. During rehearsal, Shaw recited text related to an assortment of material that she kept, including illustrations, her phone, diaries, and adverts. She later said of the experience, "I was leafing through this big stack of paper fairly frantically... I was crouched on the floor with a microphone, and I was like, 'I don't think they can even hear me. It's fine. Just go for it.' At the end they were like, 'That sounded great!'"[10] After being initially reluctant to join for months, Shaw officially joined the band in early 2018.[12][6] In an interview for Under the Radar, she said that the band had already adopted the Dry Cleaning moniker by the time she joined.[11]
The band released their debut EP, Sweet Princess, in September 2018[12][13] on Bandcamp and SoundCloud,[14] followed by its lead single, "Magic of Meghan", later in July 2019.[2] Shaw wrote the song after going through a break-up and moving out of her former partner's apartment the same day that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced they were engaged.[15] This was followed by the release of a second EP, Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks, in October.[16] The band were included as part of the NME 100 of 2020,[17] as well as DIY magazine's Class of 2020.[18]
2020–2024: New Long Leg and Stumpwork
In March 2020, the independent record label 4AD announced that Dry Cleaning had signed to them. Meanwhile, the band had just started touring in the U.S. for the first time, but by the time they had performed their first live shows at Saint Vitus and Union Pool in Brooklyn, New York,[10] the anticipated coronavirus pandemic had caused future concerts, including one at the SXSW Music Festival, to cancel.[19] The group postponed their tour and returned to the UK for the duration of the pandemic, spending that time to record material for what ultimately became New Long Leg.[10] Dry Cleaning would later return on tour to promote their first two EPs in 2024 because 4AD reissued a compilation containing both records.[13]
In November 2020, the band shared the lead single from the album, "Scratchcard Lanyard",[1] then in February 2021, the band shared details for New Long Leg with the second single, "Strong Feelings". The album, which was produced by John Parish, was released on 2 April 2021.[20] Later that year, Dry Cleaning released a 12-inch vinyl of demos from the New Long Leg sessions called Tascam Tapes, exclusively through Rough Trade record shops.[21]
On 14 June 2022, the band released a new single, "Don't Press Me", with the announcement of their second album Stumpwork, which was released on 21 October 2022.[22][23] As with their debut, the album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and was produced by John Parish.[24]
Later in 2023, Dry Cleaning released two outtakes from Stumpwork, "Swampy" and "Sombre Two", as singles on 14 February.[25] The songs were taken from an upcoming EP entitled Swampy which additionally contained a demo of "Peanuts" and remixes of "Hot Penny Day" and "Gary Ashby". Swampy was released on 1 March 2023.[26]
2025–present: Third studio album
In June 2025, it was revealed that Dry Cleaning were currently recording their third studio album with producer Cate Le Bon in the Loire Valley in France. During the recording process, Le Bon noted: "I'm really enjoying being here and being really present. The band just keep revealing themselves to be more and more lovely."[27] According to the September 2025 issue of Uncut magazine (published in July), they recorded at Black Box Studios in the Loire Valley in France for three weeks but were still in the process of completing the record, scheduled for release in early 2026. Shaw told the magazine that they had met Le Bon in 2022 while she was recording with Wilco for the latter's album Cousin. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy had invited the group to visit his studio, The Loft, after Dry Cleaning performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.[28]
↑ Watts, Peter (18 July 2025). "Not just talk: Choruses! Love songs! Burnt food! Dry Cleaning summon LP3 with Cate Le Bon in France". Uncut. No.342 (September 2025). Yalding, England: Kelsey Media. p.10. ISSN1368-0722.
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