Dry Cleaning on 'Magic of Meghan'

Dry Cleaning, the four-piece indie rock band taking the UK underground music scene by storm, first made headlines when a track on their debut EP, ‘Magic of Meghan’, sang of Meghan Markle.

And now, Dry Cleaning are about to embark on what is assumed to be yet another sell out tour while making a stop off at Glasgow’s Hug and Pint on the way.

“It’s a song that came out of quite conflicted feelings,” explains lead singer, Florence Shaw.

“I was in a really long-term relationship that ended, and it was a big struggle to come to terms with it, look after my mental health and not go totally crazy.

“I was in the process of moving out my flat that I shared with my partner, and the day I went to pack out all my stuff was the day that Meghan and Harry announced their engagement.

“For some reason, I found it really comforting to absorb all the information that was out there, the pictures and interviews.

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“I get quite obsessive about certain topics, and I became invested in their story. It was the tabloid coverage of their engagement and relationship that fascinated me – the veiled references to her race, and her life – it creeped me out. I think how she has been portrayed is shockingly old fashioned, despite the subject of the Royal Family and whether they should be there as a whole. She is a human being and also a woman and the way that women are written about in the press generally quite often is really disturbing.

“We started rehearsing, and I knew the onus was on me to produce lyrics. Naturally, the song ended up being about them as well as me. I’m quite happy that no one really knows what to make of it, because I don’t really know, either.”

This song is indeed unique. Over the sound of the catchy guitar riffs and hooks we have come to know well from bands of the same ilk over the year come Florence’s vocals, which are staggering. Songs about Meghan Markle aside, Florence’s’ voice is irresistibly arresting – deeper than one would expect, annunciations from a ‘proper’ southern London accent cushioned in a natter bouncing to and from a range of subjects. She sings about joining gyms, not getting paid enough; falling in and out of love and heartbreak.

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How did Florence, who teaches art and drawing part-time at a university in London, make the mundane sound so exciting?

“My lyrics were something that I was feeling really sensitive about – I’m not even sure why,” Florence says.

“Dry Cleaning came about in a bit of an accident kind of way: we were a group of friends having conversations about making music. The guys had all done it before, and they asked me if I wanted to do something with them and I thought it’d be fun – an extension of my artwork kind of thing.

“I’ve always been writing, storing captions or putting text alongside my drawings as a piece of artwork. We never expected it to interest people as much as it has, which is really nice. It was all quite accidental, really.”

The South London quartet have been flying since their conception in 2017, enough to pack up the original day jobs (guitarist, Tom, works in a university and Louis is a carer) and make it a full-time gig.

“Come March, the band will be the day job – until then we’ve all been working at other bits and pieces,” explains Florence.

Will that be difficult, going into a career as tumultuous as the industry seems?

“In the last five or six years I’ve done a whole bunch of jobs just to get by,” says Florence. Hopefully that’ll begin to wind down. I’m so used to it – none of the jobs that I’ve ever had have given sick pay. Someone pointed out to me the other day that that was terrible and honestly, it hadn’t even occurred to me. I’m so embedded in this complete work environment where you don’t get any benefits or anything… I didn’t realise how wrong that was.”

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With two EPs released and two sell-out shows in London and Brighton, their gig in Glasgow’s Hug & Pint will be the second time they have played in the wee-st venue in the city.

“It was great in their last time, and we didn’t accept it to be so busy as it was the furthest we had been from home.

“The set next week will be a bit more evolved. We are in the middle of writing an album and we’re hoping to play some songs from it. It’s a bit more of a settled vibe, slightly more layered and epic. It’s me, so it’s naturally more anxious,” Florence laughed.

For all her songs about heart-ache, Dry Cleaning are playing on Valentine’s night. Will ‘Magic of Meghan’ be delivered as the love-song between the two, or the potential break-up of the Royals?

“Well, Valentine’s can be a nice one, but obviously it’s also a bit depressing if you’re single. So I think it can be both. If there is anyone out there feeling that, they should come to the show.

“At least I can say that I quite like things that are heart-shaped. Maybe I’ll wear a costume.”