New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning

New Long Leg, the first full-length from South London's Dry Cleaning, came out on 4AD on 2 April 2021, cut with producer John Parish in the gaps between COVID-19 lockdowns after the band had to shelve the tour for their two EPs. Florence Shaw still speaks rather than sings, deadpan and utterly unbothered, but she's leaning less on found text now and more on her own writing and sideways observations.

Behind her, Tom Dowse's guitar, Lewis Maynard's bass and Nick Buxton's drums lock into grooves that slink more than they thrash, with drum machines creeping into the mix. It's post-punk with a wry, wandering mind, and "Strong Feelings" shows off how funny and strange Shaw's monologues can be over a band this tight. Critics fell hard for it, it made plenty of year-end lists, and it went to number 4 on the UK Albums Chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.