Dry Cleaning return to the style that first brought them to attention with their new single Sliced By A Fingernail.

I loved Dry Cleaning when I first heard them, and I love their latest single, with its characteristically quirky title Sliced By A Fingernail.

It’s a return to that winning combination of Florence Shaw’s matter-of-fact spoken vocals and lyrical non-sequiturs ranging from the banal to the surreal with squalls of Tom Dowse’s dissonant guitar.

Great video too, which is also typical of the band in that it bears no relation at all to the song yet somehow seems to fit perfectly.

I have to say that after loving their first two albums, New Long Leg and Stumpwork (and not just because the titles are both cricket-related), I was less enthused by their most recent one, Secret Love.

Produced by Cate LeBon, it found them exploring a wider palette of sounds, and Florence singing as much as speaking, which made it a bit hit-and-miss for me.

I guess I’m drawn most to the wordsmith in Shaw, whose lyrics are pieced together from snatches of overheard conversations, newspapers and advertising, and the noise in Dowse’s playing.

I’m pleased to say they’re both back in full working order and presented well to the fore on this new tune.

All together now: “Spiky mountain inside / Car mechanic / At the centre of a bud / Of a peony.”