Gaga is stoked to announce the signing of The Phenomenal Handclap Band. Hailing from New York, The Phenomenal Handclap Band is the brainchild of two producers, Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand, who together set out to realise their ‘holy vision’ of a group after years working with other people’s music.

Collás and Marquand recruited their band members from a collective of the same name made up of the cream of New York’s underground soul and indie rock scenes. Together, the resulting group play an eclectic, excitable brand of music that Collás describes as ‘dance music, played by a rock’n’roll band tricking you into thinking they’re a dance band.’

If that sounds confusing, the music itself is not: an artful blend of disco, soul and psych, with orchestral touches and moody synths, the collective’s smart, eminently danceable grooves make use of a steel-trap rhythm section and massed vocals. Live, where the band appears as a core eight piece, the shows have the feel of a ‘spiritual church revival,’ and are known to whip crowds into a kind of blissed delirium.

The group’s self-titled debut album, released in 2009 through our friends at Tummy Touch Records, features contributions from members of TV on the Radio, L’Trimm, Calla, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Mooney Suzuki, and Sí Se.