WITH a rousing, sometimes raging, tour-de-force of an album, New Fragility, out in a couple of weeks, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have one final come-hither to drop, the retrospection of the track “CYHSY, 2005”; take a dive below.
All the best bands have the courage to be self-referential. Witness Felt’s “Ballad Of The Band” and The Fall’s “Win Fall CD 2080”. Alec adds his outfit to a fine lineage with the retrospective of “CYHSY, 2005”, about – at least in the most literal reading, there being layers here – the blues of the circuit, paying your dues. “Little Rock was fine / Memphis next, then Texas bound … When all I really wanted to do was stay home”, he sings, that classic, classy CYHSY upbeat and widescreen melodicism the perfect canvas for a cracking vocal lament for the familiar, stuck in a motel between dates, thousands of miles distant.
“Part of being away so often is leaving people behind, and never feeling you’re able to establish conventionally meaningful relationships,” says Alec of the song’s genesis.
“You can be searching for stability – being in one place – and discover that that’s an illusion.”
Alec Ounsworth will also be live-streaming a solo performance via Bandcamp Live, the platform’s new concert platform today, January 29, at 8pm Eastern Time; that’s 1am tomorrow, GMT. The stripped-down performance will feature many of the songs on New Fragility being aired in public for the first time. Get your ticket here.
And to cap it all, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will be playing across Europe next year. The dates are as follows:
September 18th, 2021, Brussels, Botanique – Rotonde;
September 19th, Amsterdam, Paradiso;
September 21st, Bristol, Thekla;
September 22nd, Cambridge, Portland Arms;
September 23rd, Manchester, YES (The Pink Room);
September 24th, Dublin, Whelans;
September 25th, Liverpool, District;
September 26th, Leeds, Brudenell Social Club;
September 28th, London, Scala;
September 29th, Paris, La Maroquinerie;
September 30th, Clermont-Ferrand, La Cooperative de Mai;
October 1st, Barcelona, Sala Apolo;
October 2nd, Madrid, Independence Club;
October 4th, Nîmes, Paloma;
October 5th, Zurich, Bogen F;
October 6th, Milan, BIKO;
October 7th, Bologna, Covo Club;
October 6th, Neuchâtel, Case a Chocs;
October 10th, Dresden, Beatpol;
October 12th, Berlin, Frannz Club;
October 13th, Copenhagen, Hotel Cecil;
October 14th, Hamburg, Molotow, and
October 15th, Cologne, Bumann & Sohn.
New Fragility will be released via CYHSY/Secretly Distribution on February 12th on digital, CD, trad black and limited Coke-bottle clear vinyl; get your order in now, here. Our listens so far reveal a record of much beauty. Watch out for our review in the week of release.
Follow Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at his website, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Instagram.
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