Dry Cleaning share ‘Don’t Press Me’, their first single of 2022
Dry Cleaning have graced us with Don’t Press Me, their first release this year, and serves as our first peek at their upcoming second album, Stumpwork.
Photo: Ben Rayner
There has always been something uniquely magical about the sound of Dry Cleaning. Perhaps it’s the feeling that you’re listening to a hypnagogic poet reciting their strange mix of sentences all to the sound of an alluring backing track that their sound seems to give off. Whatever it is, the band’s debut album, New Long Leg, was a firm favourite of ours last year, and I’m sure many of you will agree.
The thing I notice straight away on the first listening is that the track is perhaps lighter sounding than some previous earlier ‘hits’ that rely on heavier post-punk riffs. It feels as if the direction the band was going with their first album was further developed and finely tuned while the members were in a dreamlike state – and it works brilliantly. Whether it’s the whistle-backed choruses of this song, or its wonderful licks, the unbelievably catchy sound of Don’t Press Me will certainly stay locked in your mind after listening.
Florence Shaw is, as always, presenting us with a delightfully bizarre and surreal labyrinth of lyrics to sink our teeth into. Florence describes the lyrics herself as “pleasure of gaming and the enjoyment of intense and short-lived guilt-free experiences.” Sometimes it really is about those little trickles of joy that life throws our way — even in the haze of lyrics, that message manages to somehow remain pronounced and clear.
Stumpwork is out on October 21st via 4AD.
