Nine years away from the label he grew out of: Claptone returns to Exploited with "Doing The Disco"

Claptone has returned to the Berlin label Exploited for the first time in nine years. The new track Doing The Disco was made with The Mekanism, with percussion from Grammy winner Jorge Bezerra.

The release was covered by Beatportal.

The masked DJ's previous outing on the label dates to August 2017. His connection to Exploited runs much deeper, though: it is where the tracks that still define his recognisability came out. Exploited's current Beatport top ten holds "Another Night", "No Eyes" and "Cream" — all three his.

A saxophone played again from scratch

At the heart of the track is a sample that was not lifted but replayed: Tom Barfod recorded an alternative saxophone part from Gary's Gang's "Do It At The Disco". The disco quotation stays recognisable, yet it sounds like the record's own material rather than a cut from somebody else's.

The track itself is built on percussion: bright hats, bongos and a rolling rhythm winding up out of short loops. There is no dramatic peak — the elements gradually lock into one another, and the pull that holds a dancefloor comes out of exactly that.

A year in the sets before release

According to Beatportal, "Doing The Disco" had been in Claptone's sets for more than a year before its official release — the usual order in club music, where a record is tested on a dancefloor first and put on sale afterwards. It landed exclusively on Beatport on 14 August.

As reported earlier by ONE//FM, Moby's "Natural Blues" also returned to the dancefloor this month — likewise in a new version, and likewise built on live percussion.