Cruise Ship Designer Lyrics – Dry Cleaning | from “Secret Love”

Dry Cleaning dropped Cruise Ship Designer as the lead single from their new album Secret Love, out now via 4AD, and it’s got that signature deadpan delivery from Florence Shaw that makes you lean in, half-amused, half-unsettled.

This one feels like a quiet manifesto wrapped in post-punk haze. Shaw narrates as a cruise ship designer who’s fully aware of the irony—he doesn’t even like cruises, sees them as a “bad situation,” yet he’s all in, striking while the iron is hot, turning necessity into a personal mission. The lyrics bounce between self-justification and subtle critique: craving a “place in society,” designing powerful boats for powerful minds, even throwing in controversial hotels and semi-anonymous ladder-climbing. It’s dry humor at its sharpest, poking at capitalism, purpose, and the quiet grind of making something you don’t love to survive. Cate Le Bon’s production keeps it sparse and tense—driving bass, jittery guitars, and that low-key groove that builds without ever exploding, giving Shaw’s spoken-word flow all the room it needs to land.

The album’s a short, sharp eleven tracks, recorded fast and loose with Le Bon steering the ship, and it feels like a direct follow-up to Stumpwork’s weirdness but tighter, more focused. Fans can stream the full thing on Apple Music or Spotify now; the rollout was low-key, just a few Instagram posts and the video drop for this single—simple black-and-white shots of industrial docks and blueprints that match the mood perfectly. No big features, no guest verses, just the band doing what they do best: turning everyday absurdity into something strangely compelling.

Dry Cleaning’s in a solid spot right now. After the buzz around New Long Leg and Stumpwork put them on bigger stages, this feels like them settling into their lane without getting comfortable—still awkward, still smart, still making you laugh and cringe at the same time. Shaw’s voice remains the secret weapon: conversational, detached, but loaded with feeling underneath.

Dive into the Cruise Ship Designer lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other Secret Love tracks for more of Dry Cleaning’s off-kilter edge.