Secret Love
by Dry Cleaning

From CaptainPain 03/02/2026 14:51 | #313409 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Each new dry cleaning album is a lottery of surreal images, memories and notes from everyday life that vocalist Florence Shaw generates in her head. hardly any big language model can predict her train of thought throughout "secret love". "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a horse," she says in the opening song of the new release, "Hit My Head All Day." "onions, carrots and celery," Florence adds, explaining about her favorite lunch menu. Her monotonous voice, as always, is accompanied by muffled drums and a pronounced, funky bass in the style of Tina Weymouth from the band talking heads. "Ha ha ha, I'm always banging my head," comes the third minute, when the melody finally seeps into the song, "la la la, blood is flowing from the stone."
For those who are hearing the band for the first time, all these lines seem like the ravings of a madman. For those who have come across the music of dry cleaning before, this idea is also supported by the appearance of Florence shaw. however, lost in time and space, the phlegmatic vocalist, who constantly hides behind her long red hair, worries about this much less than the others. after all, in the bizarre world of the band, its appearance is not at all bizarre — it is a healthy reaction to the current normality. (Edited)

This band has a great rhythm section and I really enjoyed the guitar riffs throughout the album. The question mark is about the singing and lyrics which are a bit of an acquired taste. The album does drag after a while without a conventional song to listen to, but it was interesting and good at times. In fact I loved the weird and wonderful Cruise Ship Designer song. (Edited)

The vocal style is definitely an acquired taste but personally I think it works well here (Edited)

Album Rating: 71.36
(713.6/10)

Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Secret Love

09.01.2026

Like most Dry Cleaning albums, it can drag a little. 'Hit My Head All Day' is clearly the highlight but nothing reaches the level of 'Anna Calls From The Arctic'.

1.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Hit My Head All Day 80
2.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Cruise Ship Designer 72
3.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - My Soul / Half Pint 73
4.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy) 68.2
5.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit 71.8
6.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Blood 72.8
7.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Evil Evil Idiot 68.1
8.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Rocks 69.4
9.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - The Cute Things 70.2
10.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - I Need You 70.1
11.Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Joy 69.4

Ranked in order of preference:

* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Hit My Head All Day 80
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - My Soul / Half Pint 73
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Blood 72.8
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Cruise Ship Designer 72
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit 71.8
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - The Cute Things 70.2
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - I Need You 70.1
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Rocks 69.4
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Joy 69.4
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy) 68.2
* Dry Cleaning (SL - UK - Jan 26) - Evil Evil Idiot 68.1 (Edited)