Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg (UK import)

New Long Leg is the debut studio album by English post-punk band Dry Cleaning. It was produced by John Parish. The record was released in April 2021 on the label 4AD. It received critical acclaim by the press in the UK and the US.

New Long Leg was critically acclaimed upon release. On review aggregator website, Metacritic, New Long Leg has an average rating of 86 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim based on 15 critic reviews”. On aggregator site, AnyDecentMusic?, New Long Leg has an average rating of 8.1 out of 10, based on 17 critic scores. Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Ross Horton praised the album’s unique, artful sound in contrast to many of the genre’s contemporary artists: “In the past decade or so, countless bands have been brought up from the same well of tightly-wound, expressionistic rock (Protomartyr, Preoccupations, Shame, IDLES, Fontaines D.C.), but none hold the same uniquely fascinating appeal that Dry Cleaning have.” Horton also said of New Long Leg, “Dry Cleaning’s enigmatic, iconoclastic vocalist is unlike any other, her presence completely transforming the experience of listening to the band. She doesn’t shout, or even really emote, but just conveys the words how they’re supposed to be heard, over some excellently played, saturnine rock.” Writing in The New York Times, Lindsay Zoladz called the album “excellent,” noting that, “Shaw is equal parts frontwoman and spoken-word poet, weaving the random linguistic detritus of modern life into loose, surreal narratives.” Mint.