Dry Cleaning (Interview)

“It is important to have faith when you’re making something,” says Florence Shaw, frontwoman for U.K. post-punk band Dry Cleaning, regarding the hyper-specificity of her lyrics and how they can still feel very relatable, even when she’s referencing something unfamiliar. (This, by the way, is one of my favorite things about Dry Cleaning’s music.) “You don’t have to dumb everything down and you don’t have to explain absolutely everything to the audience,” she continues. “I do feel like people will pick things up. I feel like people get it still, and that’s a satisfying thing. You have to believe in the perceptiveness of the audience.” As you’ll hear episode 134 of the LSQ podcast, the band — Flo, guitarist Tom Dowse, drummer Nick Buxton and bassist Lewis Maynard — have more to say about the idea of faith in the audience and also faith in each each other as bandmates. We also talk more about Secret Love, their brilliant third LP (and I think their best to-date), and we zoom out to discuss their creative histories individually and how they came together as Dry Cleaning. Get tickets for their upcoming tour here.