Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have announced the release of their new record, Only Run, on 2 June. Earlier today, Pitchfork revealed the premier of first track, 'Coming Down'. You can also listen to the track on Soundcloud.
Only Run, like the band’s first three records, will be marketed and distributed directly and independently by them in North America and Japan, whilst the band have teamed up with Xtra Mile Recordings for the release worldwide.
You can preorder the album here: http://smarturl.it/Only-Run
Only Run artwork
While this ethos initially struck a chord with fans when the band started, it was always truly an extension of lead singer/songwriter Alec Ounsworth’s core belief: “The general rule is to be appreciative of your audience,” he recently told Fast Company magazine.” So now, 10 years after the starting the band, while much has changed for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, many things aren’t so different. For instance, Ounsworth has spent all of 2014 thus far crisscrossing the United States playing living room shows. He still needs that direct connection with fans; it validates his vision of how art should work and confirms his belief in the music. He will be bring the Living Room Shows over to London and other major cities throughout the UK and Europe in May. Full details to be announced.
Photo by Matt Barrick
Before taking to the road, Ounsworth poured himself into the making of 'Only Run'. Like the band’s fateful first album, it’s an artist’s singular vision. Once again, Ounsworth crafted the songs himself before bringing them to the studio for completion and the album is further proof that CYHSY thrives because of a strong sense of identity. Fostered from his love of uncompromising songwriters (e.g. John Cale, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Tom Waits), Ounsworth believes in an artist’s creative control. Only Run aims to loosely document Ounsworth’s observations of his life in music over the last 10 years. “Lately, I’ve been assaulted by news, both distant and near, that suggests a certain sense of frustration,” he says. “But Clap Your Hands Say Yeah—the entire concept of the band, the name itself—is about balancing optimism in the face of overwhelming odds. I’m coming around to this myself -- finding that renewed sense of optimism.”