Happy Clappy, by Gift Horse

Happy Clappy

by Gift Horse

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Gavin Hellyer It gets under your skin. Clever lyrics, beautifully minimalist music, tunes implanted into your brain pretty quickly and in there for the long haul. French female vocalist, Scottish drummer, and maybe one of my favourite Zaph Mann suggestions. Favorite track: Five Starlings.

thorpej Crispy guitars, lovely space, captures the band's live show energy, which I miss! Favorite track: Sempiternelle Danse Moderne.

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1.	Custard Tart 03:39	lyrics	buy track
Custard tart so close to your heart Take a bite and you fell apart I made 6 just for your birthday 6 little perfect Portuguese tarts Take a little bite and you fell apart What's your beef with my custard tart? What's wrong with shop bought pastry? You'll never ever let me forget Your long arms and my impression of a gorilla I never meant to do that dance at your party This is starting to feel like a shit party No-one here has ever heard of Cy Twombly Your long arms and my impression of a gorilla, I never meant to do that dance I was tipsy, You name drop anyone that nobody's heard of, And what's wrong with using ready made pastry Portuguese tart, Portuguese tart What's in your heart, what's in your heart Portuguese tart, Portuguese tart What's in your heart, what's in your heart Your long arms and my impression of a gorilla, I never meant to do that dance at your party, You name drop anyone that nobody's ever heard of, And what's wrong with using ready made pastry
2.	Sempiternelle Danse Moderne 03:25	lyrics	buy track
Sempiternelle danse moderne Tu m'entraînes Avec elle Dans cette transe Danse ! Sempiternelle danse moderne Tu m'entraînes Avec elle Dans cette transe Danse ! Do you want to go to the Disco Remember the old disco We would sing to the songs That first lit a fire Deep down in our souls And give memories Such sweet memories And I just know that I Can walk into any kind of room And just socialise All the vegetables are rotten And the trains are sidelined Behind the fence Pounds and pence All the vegetables are rotten And the trains are sidelined Behind the fence But maybe you want to go to the Disco Remember the old disco We would sing to the songs That first lit a fire Deep down in our souls And give memories Such sweet memories And I just know that I Can walk into any kind of room And just socialise Buying up the eight inch ply Build a little box and you dance inside Watching a grown man cry Alone on a see-saw Alone on see-saw Buying up the eight inch ply Build a little box and you dance inside Watching a grown man cry Alone on a see-saw Alone on see-saw
3.	Little Trip 02:54	lyrics	buy track
You and I gonna take a little trip To the town up in the sky Gonna put feet up a little bit Lie back on our arms and let it slide Let it slide Let everything slide Lazy step out for a little tit bit Fight you to the death for the sticky croquette Bite down on lemon pip Got a squirt of juice right in the eye Right in my eye Stingy stingy eye See the sandstorm coming round the mountain Feel its texture between your teeth I can't finish this plate of sardines The eyes are staring back at me Do you know we got a parking ticket The music plays all night Thats an unripe orange not a lime tree Alright alright Mad dogs out in the one o'clock sun They went missing in 1981 The empty streets are kind for shadow You always find me on the left side On the left side of the main drag Then we climb up to Amelia's bit Look across the pain, drink it in drink it in Aperitif and I gave it big licks You fell through the chair and laughed it off We laughed it... See the sandstorm coming round the mountain Feel its texture between your teeth I can't finish this plate of sardines The eyes are staring back at me Please don't clap along to the flamenco Its complex polyrhythmic Thats an unripe orange not a lime tree Shut up you fucking dick
4.	Amour Sous l'Eau 04:39	lyrics	buy track
Amour sous l'eau Quand tu m'laissais faire J'aimais m'enfuir Loin dans tes pensées Aller à la mer Nager, danser, Ne jamais rentrer Mais tu m'as laissé m'noyer Sous l'eau j'ai tout oublié Jt'ai pris pour un fou Mon arrogance T'a giflé d'un coup T'avais l'coeur brisé J'l'ai ignoré Et j't'ai malmené Toi aussi tu t'es noyé Comment faire pour l'oublier Drown me, or love me It's just the same to me On fuyait nos vies Partout ailleurs Était mieux qu'ici On s'est consolé Sans jamais penser Qu'on pouvait s'aimer Les yeux clos on a tout nié Notre amour hors de portée Drown me, or love me It's just the same to Me, drown, love me It's just the same to me Bonjour Monsieur Crabe Bonjour Madame Poisson Mon dernier jour est terminé Mes yeux sont noirs Rentrés sous mes paupières Il n'y aura pas d'attaque sanglante J'ai ri du silence J'voulais pas savoir Ce que tu en penses J'buvais comme un trou T'aurais pu voir Que j'me foutais d'tout Mais tu m'as laissé m'noyer Et j'ai tout abandonné Drown me, or love me It's just the same to Me, drown, love me It's just the same to me Drown me, or love me It's just the same to Me, drown, love me It's just the same to me
5.	Five Starlings 03:57	lyrics	buy track
5 Starlings... Peaches fell down All around my feet Crushing the beautiful grass With all their glory A rope ladder hung down From the tree but I Could not climb it 'cause No one had teach'd me And I turned around when 5 starlings began singing 'Show me the way to San José' I pretended this wasn't startling By joining in with a chorus Of San José I checked your big fat hairy mole I checked your wintergreen kilner store I learned to fix your squeaky tap And I learned the curse to ruin your DNA map I am the engineer of 5 starlings That I will have sing for you 'Show me the way to San José' But even if you hit the ground With your fastest running The tabloid will still stay its 5000 miles to San José Stupid little birds were in the wrong key Stupid little birds were in the wrong key Come back birds, will you forgive Come back birds, I am on my knees Come back birds, flying with the breeze Come back birds, human don't tease
6.	Girl On Fire 05:52	lyrics	buy track
When I came across you I was on fire When I came across you I was a girl on fire The sun was starting to show me The way, le soleil The sun was also starting to give me away That I was on fire There's a safe place to run and hide New clothes, new pleasures New friends to call A safe place to run and hide Free Coke and Fanta Time to blether Rain came slowly with you Games play slowly with you Rain came slowly with you Games play slowly with you Drink me in like Coke or Fanta Drink me in like Jesus or Santa The centre's fallen through the floor with love The centre's fallen through the floor with love Drink me in like Coke or Fanta Drink me in like Buddha or Allah The centre's fallen through the floor with love The centre's fallen through the floor with love The centre's fallen through the floor with love The centre's fallen through the floor with love Give me all your love Give me all your love Give me all your love Give me all your love
7.	Trance 03:38	lyrics	buy track
I live my life in the sunshine I live my life in a trance I live my life in the sunshine I live my life in a trance This is a lie I am uptight This is a lie I sit in your sunny garden And I never cut the grass I sit in your sunny garden And I get angry with the plants IF THEY ASK YOU SAY THAT IF THEY ASK, YOU SAY THAT I live my life in the sunshine I live my life in a trance This is a lie I am uptight This is a lie I am uptight We all live on the serpentine We live on krill and crab We all live on the serpentine They make us kill and brag BUT IF THEY ASK YOU SAY THAT BUT IF THEY ASK YOU SAY THAT I lived my life in the sunshine I lived my life in a trance This is a lie We are uptight This is a lie We are uptight We are living a lie We are uptight We are living a lie We are uptight
8.	Last Dance 04:33	lyrics	buy track
You move in a way That's unique to your feet And it gives good shape to your day The mind of a muscle Will recall it all Your brain needs nothing to say Last dance I gave It was a lonely dance In a busy room Backwards you hop Into a cornershop For something to take away pain The day has a shape But the night isn't right And you're wishing your life away Last dance I gave It was a lonely dance In a busy room Don't stop Play on Even a lonely dance Needs a heartfelt song Dance away the problems of the world
9.	Stop! 02:37	lyrics	buy track
Stop! Stop! Where you going you should stop! Where you going you should stop! Cause when you stop there will be more time Time to see things from the other side The other side The other side is green Shot! That Asian fired a shot I didn't see that coming The Korean fired a shot I didn't see it coming Theresa fired a shot We all saw that coming The geezer fired a shot into my blind side I fell into the arms of the other side The other side, the other side, The other side is green Stick your head up, see what all the fuss is Smile you're up on the wide screen Stick your head up, see what all the fuss is Trough! Your nose was in the trough We should have seen that coming Your nose was in the trough and we were horrified We went and had breakfast with the other side The other side, the other side The other side... is green! Stick your head up, see what all the fuss is Smile you're up on the wide screen Stick your head up, see what all the fuss is

about

Since 2017, Gift Horse have drawn a cult following as lo-fi storytellers, with guitarist Audrey Bizouerne and drummer David Maxwell combining lyrical perspectives to craft hauntingly comical narratives of disorientation, disillusionment, and doomed excursions to the corner shop.

Building on the pop promise of 2018’s Trojans E.P., Happy Clappy offers moments of joyous catharsis amidst the suffocating clutter of daily life.

Humour is mined from social wreckage in gloriously stubborn opener ‘Custard Tart’ (“I never meant to do that dance at your party”), while ‘Sempiternelle Danse Moderne’ holds a harrowing resonance: the military precision of its intro giving way to the plaintive question “Do you want to go to the disco?” before Audrey’s lustral howls to the moon exorcise the nostalgic torments of the past year.

‘Little Trip’ and ‘Five Starlings’ are sinister spells, illustrating the duo’s subtle knack for the uncanny. ‘Amour Sous l’Eau’, a chanson daydream, is warped and shattered by primal cries. ‘Girl On Fire’ lulls then devastates, tempering its awestruck, caught-out-by-love starkness with the spirit of a beautifully searing FM radio ballad.

In the infectiously jittery ‘Trance’, confidence and contentedness are performed for survival, concealing the weary dissonance between who we are and who we purport to be (“This is a lie/I am uptight”).

‘Last Dance’ offers a strange sort of comfort, as echoing violin-backed vocals remind us that “Even a lonely dance/Needs a heartfelt song”. Originally released as a melancholy piano waltz on the Trojans E.P., the newly recorded version recalls the woozy melodrama of The Modern Lovers’ ‘Hospital’ with a languid sadness that bursts into agitated life.

The ritualistic chants of album closer ‘Stop!’ melt into a chaotic sound collage, the fever-dream soundtrack to a world rendered unrecognisable. With gallows humour Gift Horse are here to console and exhilarate, as we peer through our fingers at 2021.

credits

released February 5, 2021

Gift Horse are David Maxwell and Audrey Bizouerne
All songs written by Gift Horse

Tracks 1,2,3,7,8 recorded by Ross McGowan at Chime Studio

Tracks 4,5,6,9 recorded by Stevie Cossar and David Maxwell

Mixed by Ross McGowan and David Maxwell

Mastered by Jamie Savage at Chem19

Album cover painting, design and layout by David Maxwell

Saxophone on track 9 by Chrissy Barnacle

Trumpet on track 9 by Neil Davidson

Bass and double bass on tracks 5 and 8 by Stevie Jones

Viola on track 8 by Rafe Fitzpatrick

Thanks to

Hannah Houston, Jayson Turner, Jer Reid, all the promoters, venues and bands who asked us to play and put us up.

Self-released on 05/02/21. Available on digital format.

gifthorserides.bandcamp.com

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about

Gift Horse Glasgow, UK

Gift Horse are a Glasgow duo combining the breathy chanson-pop vocals of French-born guitarist Audrey Bizouerne with the darkly comic Scottish storytelling of drummer David Maxwell.

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