Having worked with producer John Parish in the past, for their third full length album, South London’s Dry Cleaning brought in Cate le Bon to help record Secret Love. The band used demos already recorded at Jeff Tweedy’s The Loft studio + a spot in Dublin as a basis for the album. The post punk sound is enhanced by singer Florence Shaw’s mostly talk/sung vocals. This style adds a comically deadpan vibe as she sings that “designing cruise ships is my pastime” and that she “simply must have experiences” on single “Hit My Head All Day”, a track where the the sound of breathing is used as percussion.
The mostly instrumental beds are well played behind Florence with a saxophone added on the very good “Let Me Grow And You’ll See The Fruit” and the bass clarinet that meets, mournful icy synths on “I Need You”. The 4AD Records band leaves the listener with the light and bright sounds of “Joy”. There’s a lot to like about Secret Love, an album that continues the band’s upward trajectory, a wildly intriguing band.
8/10
The Light Appears 