Dry Cleaning tell us about their favorite albums of 2025

As 2025 winds down, we’ve been asking artists about their favorite music of the year. Three members of Dry Cleaning — bassist Lewis Maynard, guitarist Tom Dowse, and vocalist and lyricist Florence Shaw — each told us about a few favorites, and you can see those, along with their commentary, below.

Dry Cleaning release their Cate Le Bon-produced new album Secret Love on January 9 via 4AD, and you can hear a couple singles below.

LEWIS MAYNARD’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025

YHWH Nailgun – 45 Pounds
I can’t get enough of this band. I first saw them live early last year and I have seen them a further three more times since. What they do both live and on this record is extremely difficult to do. To make experimental rock music this catchy and instantaneous is rare, once in a blue moon if we are lucky.

Richard Dawson – End of the Middle
A slightly more stripped back sound allows for the listener to really see what a phenomenal musician and song writer Richard Dawson is. It has some of saddest and most joyful moments of any album this year.

FLORENCE SHAW’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025

Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying
There are so many beautiful moments on this record. It’s got an underwater sound and when Cate’s voice and the saxophone mingle it’s heavenly. The three final tracks, ‘Body as a River,’ ‘Ride’ (which features John Cale) and ‘I Know What’s Nice’ are my favourites, as well as ‘Pieces of My Heart,’ which is a tearjerker. A heartbreak record for the ages.

Nourished by Time – The Passionate Ones
I love this album. It’s kind of unpredictable, he uses a really broad palette of sounds and samples and there are lots of twists and turns in the form of the songs. His voice is unique. ‘Crazy People’ is my favourite song.

Frog – The Count
Really like this band. The album is great to play in the evening. Our tour manager Frank recommended it to me. I like how faltering it is, and it has a nice sense of humour to it. But it’s also romantic.

TOM DOWSE’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025

Calvary – White Ruins
I love the singular focus of this record. I could really get into its world – a take on the black metal template that’s feels more than the sum of its parts that really resonated with me. The drums feel very natural and the keys have a gliding presence among everything. The drums and guitars root it more firmly in the black metal realm and the vocals are fully summoning Ian Curtis from beyond the grave. It’s lo-fi but in the way that is immersive, as opposed to restrictive.

Joanne Robertson – Blurrr
Another one I could sink my head into this year. Joanne Robertson’s voice has always had that quality – delicate, soulful, transportive but with Oliver Coates’ strings really complimenting and elevating them. The production is a little clearer despite maintaining a nice warm lo-fi hiss and there being more layers and textures. The songs feel more fully realised and immersive as a result but at the same time more concise or direct.

Jonas Torstensen – Viser Og Countryrock På Fynsk
Half-heard in my mates shop, World of Echo, this is probably the natural habitat for a record like this. Meandering, fragile and playful, like some people half-tuning up, half-jamming folk songs in a room next to yours. It reminded me most of The Dead C at their most fragmentary because of the discordance weaving through it but also the charm and warmth of ‘Finally We Are No One’ by Múm albeit much more stripped down to the bones.

Dry Cleaning recently rescheduled their North American tour to the spring, and the NYC show now happens on May 7 at Brooklyn Steel. See all dates below.

DRY CLEANING: 2026 TOUR DATES
2 January 2026 – 5 January 2026 Bognor Regis, United Kingdom Rockaway Beach Festival 2026
9 January 2026 Brighton, United Kingdom Chalk
10 January 2026 London, United Kingdom Rough Trade East
13 January 2026 Bristol, United Kingdom Strange Brew
14 January 2026 Leeds, United Kingdom Brudenell Social Club
15 January 2026 Nottingham, United Kingdom Metronome
7 April 2026 Berlin, Germany Festsaal Kreuzberg
9 April 2026 København, Denmark VEGA
10 April 2026 Hamburg, Germany Mojo Club
11 April 2026 Amsterdam, Netherlands Melkweg
13 April 2026 Bruxelles, Belgium Box Brussels
14 April 2026 Paris, France Le Trianon
17 April 2026 Dublin, Ireland Vicar Street
18 April 2026 Limerick City, Ireland Dolans Warehouse
20 April 2026 Cardiff, United Kingdom Tramshed
21 April 2026 Birmingham, United Kingdom XOYO Birmingham
22 April 2026 London, United Kingdom O2 Academy Brixton
24 April 2026 Glasgow, United Kingdom SWG3
25 April 2026 Manchester, United Kingdom New Century Hall
30 April 2026 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
1 May 2026 Toronto, ON The Concert Hall
2 May 2026 Montreal, QC Foufounes Électriques
3 May 2026 Hudson, NY Basilica Hudson
5 May 2026 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
6 May 2026 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
7 May 2026 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
8 May 2026 Washington, DC Howard Theatre
10 May 2026 Nashville, TN The Basement East
12 May 2026 Omaha, NE Slowdown
13 May 2026 Denver, CO Meow Wolf Denver | Convergence Station
15 May 2026 – 17 May 2026 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Block Party 2026
16 May 2026 Boise, ID Shrine Social Club
17 May 2026 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
18 May 2026 Seattle, WA The Showbox
20 May 2026 San Francisco, CA August Hall
21 May 2026 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco Theater
22 May 2026 San Diego, CA Casbah
23 July 2026 – 26 July 2026 Southwold, United Kingdom Latitude Festival 2026

See more 2025 year end lists here.