Clap your hands say yeah 2025
By Charlotte Stace
In any discussion regarding songwriters of 21st century indie music, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, will feature prominently. Few have been as consistently brilliant; fewer still remain defiantly independent, refusing to sign deals that compromise artistic vision.
The groups’ self-titled debut in 2005 became an underground sensation. Its follow-up, Some Loud Thunder (2007), deliberately pushed against expectations, leaving fans and critics divided. By 2011’s Hysterical, the band embraced a more polished sound, though it struggled to replicate their early impact. Only Run (2014) leaned into a darker, more electronic sound. Then, in 2021, New Fragility marked a return to stripped-back songwriting, with Ounsworth confronting themes of politics and personal struggle.
Always heading down new avenues of song arrangement and organic connection to his audience, after nearly two decades Ounsworth remains one of music’s most distinctive voices.