New Long Leg is the debut studio album by the English post-punk band Dry Cleaning, released on 2 April 2021 through the independent label 4AD. It was recorded with producer John Parish between lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, after having to postpone their tour in support of their EPs, Sweet Princess (2018) and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (2019). Largely retaining Florence Shaw's spoken word delivery and the post-punk style of their previous material, New Long Leg sees Shaw beginning to transition away from found texts in favour of her own written material and observations, while the band prioritised a groove-oriented sound and incorporated drum machines. It was widely acclaimed upon release and placed on several year-end lists, and it reached no. 4 in the UK Album Charts.
In 2020, Dry Cleaning were on tour supporting their EPs Sweet Princess (2018) and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (2019). By early March, the band announced that they had signed to the independent record label 4AD, band members Florence Shaw and Tom Dowse quit their jobs as lecturers, and Dry Cleaning had just begun the North American leg of the tour, holding their American debut at clubs in Brooklyn, New York City.[1] Shortly afterwards, however, the incoming COVID-19 pandemic caused scheduled venues to cancel, so the band returned to London. By that point, much of the material for what would become New Long Leg was already written and demoed, so the remainder was written during pandemic lockdown,[2] passing around a TASCAM cassette Portastudio to record further demos[3] and using that time to experiment and refine the lyrics.[2] They began rehearsing together nearly two months later under social distancing conditions and later recorded the album in the summer with producer John Parish at Rockfield Studios in rural Wales,[4] managing all of this between lockdowns.[5] The recording sessions finished within a two week period[4] between July and August.[6]
On "Every Day Carry", an instrumental pause with loop pedals and feedback from guitarist Tom Dowse transitions to a climax with the rest of the band.[13]
Upon the album's release, reviewers have often found similarities to a number of post-punk groups such as the Fall,[14][15]Gang of Four,[16][17] and Magazine,[14][18] with additional comparisons to Sonic Youth,[15][16]Life Without Buildings,[15][18] and the Smiths.[16] Charlie Brock of Gigwise singled out the "jangly guitar" on "Her Hippo" as being highly reminiscient of Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.[13] The seven minute "psychedelic"[12][19] closer "Every Day Carry" heavily utilises guitar feedback[13][20] during a two minute long instrumental pause.[14] Otherwise, New Long Leg prioritises a groove-oriented approach.[21][22] Although Shaw's deadpan,[19][23] stream of consciousness-styled[24][25] vocal performance on New Long Leg primarily relies on spoken word, she occasionally breaks that pattern to briefly sing, for example, on the title track[13] and "More Big Birds".[16]
Themes and lyrics
In a departure from Shaw's previous methodology of reciting from an assortment of found text, much of the lyrics on the album also came from overheard conversations[24][26] and her own writing.[10][25] She described her writing process in an interview in Rolling Stone: "You're like, 'The only thing I care about right now is baked beans.' Or, 'The only thing I care about is Star Trek: The Next Generation.... And I'll write whatever I can think of about that, and all my feelings about it. Sometimes it'll go off into another subject. It's just a way to make me go."[1] On New Long Leg, Shaw glorifies everyday, mundane activities[8][27][28] while offering criticisms of the modern world.[14][28] These subjects are often delivered in a humourous manner[12][14] and are transitioned together in quick succession via the use of non-sequitors, often about food.[26] Altogether this culminates in a tone that is often perceived as surrealist,[8][29] absurdist,[12][18] or escapist.[9][26]
Singles
On 19 November 2020, Dry Cleaning released their lead single and debut on 4AD, "Scratchcard Lanyard".[30] It was accompanied by a music video by Rottingdean Bazaar,[5][31] a duo consisting of James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks;[32] along with Annie Collinge, they would later receive a Grammy as art directors for the packaging of the band's second album Stumpwork (2022).[33] The video prominently features Shaw performing at a miniature venue wherein her face comprises the entire stage, occasionally zooming out to show the rest of the band playing along.[5][34] The largely upbeat single[2] was often played on 6Music.[34] Jim Wirth of Uncut considered it Dry Cleaning's "signature tune",[18] and in American Songwriter, Hal Horowitz argued that it is representative of the band's "distinctive blueprint."[21] In a press release, the band described it as a revenge fantasy,[31] with Shaw later providing context in Rolling Stone: "It's [about] feeling quite pissed-off and fatigued with the roles you're asked to fulfill as a woman past the age of 30... The pressure to have children is this sudden thing that descends, like, 'You're a carer now.' Not that I resent any of those things in principle. Mothers are the greatest people in the world. But it was a noticeable thing, that suddenly I have these pressures that my brother and my male friends don't have."[1] In "Scratchcard Lanyard", the narrator seeks out various creative outlets in order to provide a sense of self-worth.[20]
Coinciding with the announcement for the album, the band revealed the second single, "Strong Feelings", on 9 February 2021.[35] The music video was directed by the band's guitarist Tom Dowse[36] and features glitch art from Sabato Visconti.[35] The track includes lyrics such as descriptions of paintings[7] and the line "Just an emo dead stuff collector, things come to the brain," which was noted by Kate French-Morris in The Forty-Five as a potential self-descriptor by Shaw.[12] "Strong Feelings" was later used during a Haute couture runway show by Chanel.[37]
After covering Grimes' "Oblivion" for the third installment of a compilation album by 4AD entitled Bills & Aches & Blues on 25 March,[38] Dry Cleaning released the third single, "Unsmart Lady", on 30 March.[39] The music video was directed by Tilly Shiner[39] and was filmed in Dourofs, a carpet warehouse in Catford, London.[20] Lyrically, it addresses expectations that people have of women in the modern world.[29][40] Shaw said "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".[1]
Release
New Long Leg was released on 2 April 2021.[35] It peaked on both the UK and Scottish Albums Charts at no. 4, additionally reaching no. 1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.[41] The Japanese version of New Long Leg contained two bonus tracks, "Tony Speaks!" and "Bug Eggs", that were recorded during the sessions for the album. Both were released together as a double A-side single later on 17 July.[42]
After the band received the distinction of album of the year from Rough Trade, they released a collection of demos from the album entitled Tascam Tapes on 12" vinyl, exclusively through the retailer. Free tickets to a Dry Cleaning concert on 18 November 2021 at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, New York City were available to purchasers of the record. The opening act was the Muckers, followed by Spencer, a fellow artist on 4AD.[43]
New Long Leg was critically acclaimed upon release. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, New Long Leg received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 from 21 critic scores.[45] Another aggregator, AnyDecentMusic?, gave it an average rating of 8.1 out of 10, based on 24 critic scores.[44]
Rating the album 9 out of 10 for the website Exclaim!, Kaelen Bell called it "a bristling and steely-eyed statement of intent... New Long Leg is an even-keeled record, and the quartet remain at a confident simmer for the length of its 40 minutes."[19] In a similarly positive review, Matt Cotsell said in MusicOMH "this precariously magnetic album... will absolutely floor you."[20] In a pair of four star magazine reviews, Shaun Curran of Record Collector described New Long Leg as "Fresh, clever", "endlessly intriguing," and "a stellar debut",[28] while Victoria Segal of Mojo considered it "Comic, sinister, [and] suddenly moving".[15] In a five star review at The Arts Desk, Katie Colombus felt that the record's lyrics possess a "mundane beauty", adding "What I love about New Long Leg is its insistence to look for the finer detail in all that we could miss out on, and to see that there is magic everywhere – even in the most ordinary places."[8] Feeling the need to provide comparable praise to the album's instrumentals, Sean Kerwick of DIY opined that "While the lyrics certainly take centre stage, the instrumentals that run beneath the vocals are equally inspired without employing the use of too many bells and whistles."[40] On the website The Forty-Five, Kate French-Morris said that "The rest of the band build a world around Shaw, providing the perfect conditions for her vocals to flourish: a sound and mood that contrasts without clashing, layers that wriggle behind her blunt manner."[12]
In comparison to Dry Cleaning's previous material, i.e. the well-received EPs Sweet Princess (2018) and Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (2019),[40] critics generally found New Long Leg to be an improvement in various ways. Rosie Ramsden of Loud and Quiet called it "a record of greater confidence and refinement",[2] Max Freedman of Paste thought it was "levels funnier, wryer and more melodic",[46] and Jill Mapes of Pitchfork felt that "the album's production and mix are exquisitely calibrated for maximum effect" in contrast to their "scrappier EPs".[26] In a review for the The Skinny, Skye Butchard belived that the instrumental trio "are looser and more explorative players on New Long Leg, after the taut energy of the band's early EPs. Now, the impressionistic guitar lines and lolloping drums that colour songs like 'More Big Birds' and 'Unsmart Lady' feel at one with Shaw's voice."[27] As said by Dom Gourlay in Under the Radar, "Fulfilling all the promise shown by those early releases not to mention 4AD's faith in signing them up, Dry Cleaning are the real deal."[23] In a similar vein, Will Schube of Flood magazine said "as is too rarely the case, New Long Leg lives up to the hype and builds upon it, imagining a future in which a new crop of bands long to mimic their style."[47]
Multiple critics lauded New Long Leg as unique.[21][23] Although Gabbie Nirenburg of No Ripcord found it "unavoidable" to separate the music from the post-punk genre, they nonetheless found the record to be "cohesive and original."[25] Other reviewers found that it stood out in the contemporary post-punk scene in particular.[27][48] Robin Murray of Clash called Shaw's delivery "a unique sonic weapon"; moreover, they said that on New Long Leg the band "have a commitment to a singular aesthetic that their peers lack... it takes chances other groups could scarcely envisage."[34] In a review for the NME, Will Richard stated that while the album bears some similarities to modern post-punk bands that engage in the trend of utilising spoken word, "the band also sit apart due to their more playful subject matter and brilliant refusal to take themselves too seriously; it's something the modern punk scene is crying out for."[11] Tim Sentz, a critic writing for Beats Per Minute, thought that Shaw's unconventional background in visual arts brought "some freshness to a scene that is overstuffed at the moment", adding that "Shaw by herself is unquestionably talented, but the fine support behind her at all times is the key to Dry Cleaning's success on their first long player. They swirl in elemental shifts that make New Long Leg sound sunnier than its brethren."[9]
At least two tracks from the album garned specific attention by critics. Heather Phares said in a review for AllMusic that "Scratchcard Lanyard" is "one of New Long Leg's finest moments".[7] In Loud and Quiet, Rosie Ramsden said that "Here, triviality and meaning compete to create a compelling portrait of ordinary life, one littered with acerbic wit, intricacy and yawning negative space. Nowhere is this demonstrated better than on the album's opener, 'Scratchcard Lanyard'".[2] Elsewhere, Ross Horton of The Line of Best Fit believed that Shaw's lyrics on closer "Every Day Carry" are "most representative of her craft," such that she "lets loose with some of the most impressively impressionistic poetic zingers that you're likely to ever hear on record this year."[48] In an otherwise positive review, Michael Hann of The Guardian said of the track that "It's a shame, then, that her best lyric... is married to the least interesting music of the record, seven-and-a-half minutes that one suspects are meant to be hypnotic and probably are – live."[10] Conversely, Jamie MacMillan in Dork magazine said that "By the time the band really flex their muscles on the closing 'Every Day Carry', a seven-minute-plus track that feels destined to be a climactic mindblower when live shows do finally return, they have easily cemented their place as one of the most fascinating bands out there."[24] Charlie Brock of Gigwise thought "'Every Day Carry' may be the strongest track here", concluding in a 9 out of 10 review that it is "an incredibly strong closer to an incredibly strong album."[13]
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