Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork

'New Long Leg' was heads and shoulders my favourite album of 2021. It had seemed like a long wait since seeing Dry Cleaning as support act to Bodega at Norwich Arts Centre in March 2019. I remember a track called ‘Magic of Meghan’ that really caught my attention, not just with its title, but also with its apparent randomness. And then the pandemic came.
 
The release of 'New Long Leg' had to wait another two years, but my god it was worth it – it arrived like a parting of the clouds, with a lyrical freshness and a laundering that seemed to stick two fingers up to Covid as if to say “now get on top of this, buster”. And now, the second load is ready.
 
Stumpwork is a form of embroidery in which the stitched figures are raised from the surface to impart a three-dimensional effect, something that Dry Cleaning achieve lyrically in a heightened panoramic style of their own. But, this time around, Florence Shaw shifts her epigrammatic attentions away from verbal snapshots of South London street signage and scenaria to contemplate, and even offer a uniquely taciturn commentary upon, life and social politics in post-pandemic urbania.
 
The jangly jazz doodlings and infectious beatpop rhythm from Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Nick Buxton remain ever-present, but this time an increased cohesion and colloquiality to Shaw's lyrics shifts everything up a gear. Songs now have what might almost be considered narrative arcs, whether it be a surreal trip to the zoo (Kwenchy Cups), a walkabout pet tortoise (Gary Ashby), or an existential ode to gaming (Don't Press Me). Yes, there remains cleverly vignetted wordplay at work  ( the references to Sports Indirect and Costa Costa Cups are pure Dry Cleaning), and Shaw's free-styling sententiae remain packed with pithy epigrams. 'Stumpwork' becomes an intelligent and cohesive collection that plots out the band's confidence and direction with a pristine load, and bags of style.
 
10/10