Claptone - Closer (2LP) - Gray/White Vinyl

By the time Closer landed in November 2021, Claptone had already carved out a sly little niche, the golden mask, the Masquerade parties, the silky, piano‑touched house that seems purpose‑built for sunset and 3 am alike. Album three takes that persona and buffs it to a shine. The big tell is the partnership with Stuart Price, a pop and dance polymath with credits across Madonna, Pet Shop Boys and The Killers. You can hear that instinct for economy in the arrangements, the way hooks snap into focus without crowding the groove.

The singles chart the territory neatly. Just A Ghost ropes in Seal, whose voice glides across the track with that familiar balm, cool and steady over a bed of elastic bass and glassy synths. It is a clever match. Seal knows his way around dance music history, and Claptone gives him room, spacing the chords and drums so every syllable lands. There is no flexing, just a confident, almost classic house cut that quietly becomes a highlight.

Queen of Ice pulls in Canadian outfit Dizzy, and it’s a beauty too, a frosted vocal line opening onto a warm, four to the floor pulse. When Pet Shop Boys turned in a remix not long after, it felt like a wink at the album’s DNA. Price’s fingerprints are there in the shimmer, the disciplined lift into the chorus, and that interplay between melancholy and motion that the Pet Shop Boys more or less patented. It still feels like Claptone though, with the chords blooming in that soft focus way he’s been fond of since Charmer.

Zero arrived earlier in the campaign and still hits like a chrome‑plated bullet. It rides a propulsive synth line that nods to Italo and late‑night French touch, all sleek movement and no wasted gestures. My Night, with British duo APRE, aims straight at the indie‑dance sweet spot, the vocal sticky enough to hang around long after the last kick drum fades. If you came to Closer looking for a pop‑leaning house record you can throw on at a party and leave running, those two tracks make the case fast.

There is heart on show as well. Wake Up with James Vincent McMorrow brings a tender, cloudy ache to the centre of the record, the kind of tune that sneaks up mid‑set and changes the mood without dropping the tempo. Claptone keeps the production unfussy so the vocal can do the heavy lifting, just a humid pad, a patient bassline, and drums that feel like they are breathing rather than pounding. It is the sort of judgment that keeps the album from lapsing into faceless functionality.

What ties Closer together is feel. The sequencing leans into little crescendos, then lets you drift. Nothing is abrasive, yet there is enough muscle in the low end to keep you moving. You can hear the studio discipline, the filters easing open at just the right moment, the hi‑hats sitting politely in the pocket, the piano stabs landing with a warm thud rather than a harsh jab. Price helps, obviously, but Claptone’s taste is the through line. He is a curator at heart, matching voices to moods, picking the chord colours that flatter a melody.

If you collect Claptone vinyl, this one belongs with Charmer and Fantast as the moment he swung closest to the centre of the dance‑pop Venn diagram. It is friendly and polished, yet it still carries that twilight glow he has made his calling card. The collaborators are chosen with care, the singles stand tall on their own, and the album plays as a start‑to‑finish listen rather than a playlist dump. That is rarer than it should be.

For those digging through a Melbourne record store or browsing vinyl records Australia late at night, Closer vinyl will scratch that itch for something sleek, melodic and club‑ready without the chest‑beating. It is the record you put on when you want your living room to feel like a terrace, and it translates just as well to a proper system. If you like to buy Claptone records online, or you are chasing Claptone albums on vinyl to round out a house section that leans stylish rather than sweaty, this one earns its spine space. It might be Claptone’s most approachable set, but it does not pander. It simply invites you in, then lives up to its title.