Web-lore says that Brooklyn five-piece Clap Your Hands Say Yeah came on to the scene in 2005 via a single positive album review on Pitchfork. And that they were soon spending more time packing album orders into boxes than they were on the band itself. After that self-titled album thrust the band into the limelight internationally (it even reach the outer limits of the Top 20 in the UK), they released a thornier follow up in 2007 with Some Loud Thunder. Following several tours in support, the band promptly disappeared for a while.

After a series of side-projects and solo albums in their downtime, the band are now back in action again with their third, most polished set, Hysterical. The new album takes the bands nervy indie-rock out of the basement and renders it widescreen; in the process unearthing a grand sweep that sounds more romantic (and perhaps vital) than their two previous efforts.

With the band about to perform in Australia alongside the likes of Portishead, Flaming Lips and the National at the Harvest Festival in November (as well as their own sideshow tour) we spoke to a jovial band leader and frontman Alec Ounsworth about getting back into the swing of things, his writing process and forgetting no-one knows what he's talking about.

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After the band being away for so long, do you brace yourself for these moments where you once again have to pitch yourself?

No in a way it reminds me of the first record. In a sense, that's obvious buy virtue of the fact that we have to rebuild [our fanbase] — or that's what people say anyway — which is good. I like that, I prefer it. Otherwise, what are you doing? You're simply playing a show without any direct challenge. I always love that, starting up and finding it to be a challenge to bring people over to your side. That's just the way I approach it.

How do you feel psychoanalysing music that is presumably still pretty fresh for you?

I tend to shy away from that or I give some sort of roundabout utterly convoluted response, that makes no sense to myself nor the person on the other line. I don't know if it helps anyone. I feel like people get more out of a simple conversation that to dig in to the heart of any particular song. It's better than getting someone to stumble through the precise meaning of a particular song [laughs]. But that said I do give it a shot. I tend to speak in relatively in abstract terms, but then I tend to write in relatively abstract terms. No songs are about any one thing -- they could be about certain relationships, they could be a combination of certain relationships and it has to do with all that.

I keep coming back to 'In A Motel' on the new record, which gives me the impression of holding some key element that I'm yet to understand.

I think that's one of the stronger songs, personally. When I said abstract [earlier], I think that for other people it can be somewhat abstract but I understand exactly what I'm saying. I forget sometimes that people don't know exactly what I'm talking about. That song has a lot to do with how time on the road can be the best of times and the worst of times. And metaphorically you can put that to other things. That had to do with specifically being on the move so much and being on the move so much. You're exhausted and you're going through a certain phase in your life and certain things are going on without you, etcetera etcetera. It's not necessarily a sad song, it's more of a document of what was going through my head at a certain time.

Are you the kind of person that's built for constant travel?

I am definitely somebody who likes to be on the move. The only thing about touring is night after night playing a show -- oh what I meant to add to that explanation of that song, is that one of the most difficult feelings of being on the road is — not only that you're moving constantly; it's great to be out and it's great to have people care about what you do and all of that is just amazing — but the idea of trying to be honest every night. And trying to put forward something that you think will be important to everyone else, and [how] it must be important to you while you're doing it. [Which] is a pretty tall order.


Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - 'Same Mistake' Live on Jimmy Fallon

I think a lot of it has to do with certain pressures that I put on myself, like every show has got to be slightly different or it's gotta be just the best song that we've done thus far. Or it's at least got to be up to the best song that we've done thus far...I don't know. I mean, I feel like if you're honest and you're passionate about it then you at least owe it to yourself and the audience. And that can be taxing, you know. That's all.

One of the best pieces of advice when I started off, during that grind at the very beginning, when we were touring fairly steadily for a couple of years, was a great friend of mine Big Jess [of hip-hop crew Unknown Prophets] said if ever I'm in doubt, to fall back on to an absolute focus on: 1. How that song was born, and: 2. What those lyrics mean. And it'll pull you back in to the song and where you are. And that has helped.

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