Bio

After two critically acclaimed albums, Daniel Collás, the main mind behind Phenomenal Handclap Band, decided it was time to take a break. There had been extensive touring with the likes of Bryan Ferry, Franz Ferdinand, and Chairlift, notable performances at festivals such as Glastonbury, Wireless, and Latitude, as well as a personal note from Paul McCartney, but it was beginning to feel like the project was drifting off course. The original idea had been for it to grow and change shape. It wouldn't do to become just another band on the indie circuit.

So Collás did what anyone seeking inspiration and answers would do. He travelled.

When he eventually returned to New York, he set up a new studio and began to produce other artists, his sights set on assembling a new band from the fertile local scene. It was here that he met Juliet Swango, who as a teenager in the late 90s - early 00s had found success and renown as the front woman of her band The Rondelles. She had since relocated to NY to concentrate on singing, songwriting, and arranging, accomplished in live performances and recording sessions alike.

The two initially began working together with the intention of Daniel producing Juliet's solo album, but it soon became clear that they should combine forces and put their efforts toward a new Phenomenal Handclap Band recording. The two multi-instrumentalists played everything themselves at the start, gradually adding or replacing parts as the band began forming around them. Some were new people that Daniel had met either locally or on his travels, while others were familiar faces, past members or frequent collaborators.

The resulting work is something of a return to form for Phenomenal Handclap Band. Elements of dance music remain, but the emphasis has shifted to the primal components of what dance music would become: a heady mix of raw soul, gospel-inflected vocal harmonies, latin percussion, fuzzy guitars, and analog synthesizers.
The music is now as much a history lesson as a breath of fresh air in this current era of omnipresent electronic dance music.