-
10.0
143357
10.0 |
Mojo
Dry Cleaning have lost none of their distinctive edge, their idiosyncratic set-up proving to be endlessly elastic, as big as they want, as small as they need, ?to capture the chaos of the world. No hidden messages here: Secret Love is a wonderful record. Print edition only
-
10.0
143371
10.0 |
musicOMH
Adventurous, playful and, at times, aggressive, their third album throws their own carefully defined and beautifully curated rulebook out of the proverbial window
Read Review
-
9.0
143385
9.0 |
All Music
Dry Cleaning sound more expansive and present than ever on Secret Love, transcending their role as sprechgesang post-punk standard-bearers to become innovators whose surreal, poetic expressions of emotion reveal hearts as open as their eyes
Read Review
-
9.0
143358
9.0 |
Uncut
Secret Love, produced by Cate Le Bon, obliterates the thought [they would struggle to surprise a second time] entirely. Print edition only
-
9.0
143340
9.0 |
Clash
This more mainstream-friendly, luscious-yet-intimate sound is a huge gamble for Dry Cleaning, and they came through this stress test shining, delivering their best work so far
Read Review
-
8.5
143344
8.5 |
Northern Transmissions
Secret Love doesn’t abandon what came before, but it no longer holds everything at the same distance. Shaw is still assembling mosaics from overheard fragments and domestic absurdities
Read Review
-
8.5
143366
8.5 |
Spectrum Culture
Secret Love deepens the band’s post-punk bona fides, carefully balancing intellectual severity with emotional weight
Read Review
-
8.0
143373
8.0 |
No Ripcord
The London post-punk band draws out glimmering bits of truth from their abstract inclinations
Read Review
-
8.0
143402
8.0 |
Dork
It’s a record from a band allowing their sound to widen without ever losing sight of who they are
Read Review
-
8.0
143377
8.0 |
God Is In The TV
It’s pointless to simply describe this as the first great album of 2026 when we’re not even two weeks in. It is, however, a record that will reward repeated playing, and one that will certainly win them new fans, and rewarding those long-term fans with how much they’ve developed
Read Review
-
8.0
143349
8.0 |
Far Out
While this myriad of attempts to shapeshift suggests that this record could turn out to represent a transitional period where they attempt to find a new sound to settle into in the grand scheme of things, it’s clear that they’re still pretty good at whatever style they attempt in the interim
Read Review
-
8.0
143359
8.0 |
Record Collector
Secret Love follows 2022’s Stumpwork, an album that pushed Dry Cleaning’s sound towards more expansive routes, a direction of travel that, with the help of Cate Le Bon’s expert production, has led to their best work yet. It is also their most direct. Print edition only
-
8.0
143342
8.0 |
NME
From six-minute jams to new adventures in freak-folk, the London band carve deeper into their niche on album three
Read Review
-
8.0
143343
8.0 |
DIY
It’s not a record likely to shift anyone’s needle, but for those on the fonder side, it’s a whole new set of treats to explore
Read Review
-
8.0
143338
8.0 |
The Guardian
The standout act in the sprechgesang wave, the four-piece’s newly expansive sound carries singer Florence Shaw’s distinctive tales of mundane lives spiralling out of control
Read Review
-
8.0
143411
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Secret Love contains some of Dry Cleaning’s prettiest moments, even as the lyrics are at their most dire
Read Review
-
7.9
143367
7.9 |
Pitchfork
Florence Shaw and co. are tapping into that sly, dry humor, working with Cate Le Bon, and breaking out of their shell
Read Review
-
7.5
143381
7.5 |
Paste Magazine
The South Londoners’ third album reaffirms their underlying ethos that the ordinary is worth mining for the extraordinary
Read Review
-
7.2
143383
7.2 |
Beats Per Minute
For a band that started out as snarky bohemians, even doomsday romanticists, collapsarians who nevertheless believed in the redemptive properties of art, that’s a pretty defeatist position
Read Review
-
7.0
143374
7.0 |
PopMatters
Dry Cleaning achieve moments of brilliance but also succumb to periods where they lack cohesion
Read Review
-
6.0
143410
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
Florence Shaw's low-spoken abstract vignettes and dryly comedic, poetic flights of fancy are the key ingredient
Read Review
-
6.0
143339
6.0 |
The Skinny
Florence Shaw returns to her usual writerly concerns while expanding her methods of delivery
Read Review
-