Dry Cleaning describe a visit to the zoo on Kwenchy Kups, one of the many standout songs on their second album Stumpwork.

I don’t know what’s happened to Dry Cleaning. It’s been three years since their last album and we need another one. I do, anyway.

Stumpwork was one of my favourite records of 2022 so I’ve been going back to remind myself how much I loved it at that time.

It’s not just Florence Shaw’s laconic spoken-word vocal style; nor is it the adventurous musical accompaniments, especially Lewis Maynard’s guitar experiments.

It’s her way with words – a clever combination of everyday observations and fleeting thoughts that verge on the surreal, filled with startling non sequiturs and a love of language.

This song, with a typically abstract title – Kwenchy Kups – involves a visit to the zoo. “I’m going to see the otter / There aren’t any otters,” she tells us. “I’m going to see the water caterpillar / There’s no such thing.”

It begins with a more general comment on the state of things, though Shaw’s optimistic prediction seems harder than ever to accommodate three years later.

“Things are shit,” she tells us at the start. “But they’re going to be OK.”