Pitchfork

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's self-released second album, Some Loud Thunder, comes out January 30, but so far there's been little news surrounding its release: In early October, the band revealed to Pitchfork that they'd been recording with renowned producer Dave Fridmann, then waited until just before Christmas to release two free MP3s. A month later, the band seems to be (perhaps intentionally) keeping a lower profile.

"Love Song No. 7", one of the two MP3s released in support of the new album, is markedly more focused on sound and atmosphere than the tight, concise pop songs of their debut.  It's also their moodiest track to date. Centering around a doleful piano, crooning, backwards accordion, and, between instrumental passages, frontman Alec Ounsworth's reedy, watery vocals, "Love Song No. 7" definitely makes Fridmann's presence known.  The track should also help listeners tune out the David Byrne and Gordon Gano comparisons-- here, Ounsworth's stretched, nasally vowels and undulations sound more like Supertramp's Roger Hodgson. (Okay, take that how you will.)

The mood grows eerier as the song's repetitions become increasingly determined: the piano mediates on the same chords, and a sickly whistle sounds the melody in the background. As a lead single, it's an unexpected choice, but a fitting one for a band for whom presentation has never been a strong suit: I mean, they did call themselves Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.