Claptone – Wanderer [Golden Path]
With four full-length albums under his belt, Claptone has earned the right to do things on his own terms. ‘Wanderer’, out now via his Golden Path Recordings imprint, is the clearest expression of that yet. The masked German producer has spent years building one of dance music’s more formidable sonic identities; five consecutive years as the world’s #1 House DJ, a relentless global touring schedule, and a string of records that have consistently found the line between club-ready and genuinely artful. ‘Wanderer’ doesn’t abandon any of that, but simply does something more interesting with it. Across 11 tracks and a carefully assembled roster of collaborators, the new LP broadens the musical picture without losing focus, moving between festival anthems and more intimate moments with the confidence of someone who not only knows the difference but knows when each one is called for.
That balance reveals itself across the album’s opening stretch. ‘Way Too Into You’ featuring Henry Camamile of the British Indie band Sea Girls sets the tone with a vocal performance that’s confident without being overwrought, wrapping an indie topline in dancing summer melodies that feel immediately at home on a festival stage. It’s an addictive yet entirely accessible opener, succinctly summarizing the always-evolving Claptone sound. ‘Phantasy’ with Raphaella follows in a different register altogether, guitar-led, unhurried, and more interested in groove than impact. It’s a conscious step back from the opener’s brightness, with the contrast allowing both to land harder because of it.
By the time ‘Turn Up The Love’ with Crystal Fighters arrives, the album’s range is already starting to take shape, and the collaboration delivers exactly what a pairing of that scale should. It’s a fully realized, radio-ready single, melodically airtight and built around a hook that’s quick to take hold and refuses to let go. It’s also one of several moments on Wanderer where Claptone’s ability to identify what a vocal needs around it, build it out, and know precisely when to stop feels genuinely hard to match. ‘Disappear’ with T. Western dials in a refreshing shift in atmosphere, turning towards something smoother in texture, with pulsing synthwork doing the heavy lifting without sacrificing any of Claptone’s signature melodic finesse.
The album’s midpoint is where Wanderer earns its title most honestly. ‘Sandcastles’ with Nathan Nicholson is tender in touch and deliberate in restraint, carrying true emotional weight solely because it doesn’t reach for it. Four albums in, Claptone has clearly developed a feel for when pulling back makes more sense than pushing forward, and here it pays off quietly and completely. The transition into ‘Black & Gold’ with Hannah Boleyn feels almost cinematic by contrast, with deep bass hits giving the track an immediate dancefloor edge while the melodies running beneath Boleyn’s front-and-center vocal lend it a storytelling quality that most club records don’t bother striving for. It’s already made its mark ahead of the album’s release, drawing early support from Capital Dance, BBC Radio 1’s Danny Howard, and Kiss FM. Now heard in the context of the full record, it hits with even more conviction.
‘Wanderlust’, the first of two collaborations with vocalist Poppy Baskcomb, is layered, precise, and possesses a lightness that keeps it from taking itself too seriously. For a record built almost entirely on collaborations, it quietly underlines something important: the voices may change, and the moods may shift, but the vision stays consistent throughout. That cohesion holds as the album swings into one of its most euphoric moments with ‘Put Your Love On Me’, the second joint effort with Henry Camamile from Sea Girls. It’s bold, festival-ready, and built from the ground up to make lasting memories. By the time ‘All Night Long’ featuring Moli arrives with its harder kick and snapping claps, the album has covered enough ground that its dancefloor directness feels earned rather than expected.
‘Treading Water’ brings Poppy Baskcomb back for a more raw and exposed cut, leaning on layered harmonies and delicate vocal processing to build a genuine sense of immersion before culminating in an uplifting payoff in the drop. In closing, ‘Any Given Moment’ sees Claptone close Wanderer on his own terms, deeper, groove-driven and content to let a bouncing low-end and sultry vocal do the work. It’s a measured and assured conclusion to a record that never once felt rushed.
What Wanderer ultimately demonstrates is that Claptone’s creative instincts have only sharpened with time. The years since Closerin 2021 have been anything but idle, with a touring footprint that spans continents, a particularly devoted following built across South America, and a returning residency at Club Chinois in Ibiza ahead this summer. The launch of Golden Path Recordings in 2023 added another dimension to an already multifaceted operation, underlining an artist who has never been content to simply show up and perform. Currently ranked #32 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs following five consecutive years as the world’s #1 House DJ, the numbers tell one story, but Wanderer tells a more interesting one. It’s the work of a producer who has stopped trying to prove anything and started simply making the music that makes sense to him.
