For Claxy, sound has always been a place of arrival rather than origin. Formed by Brazilian natives Clara Valente and Gui Gautreaux and now based in Germany, the duo’s music lives in the in-between: between countries, languages, acoustic intimacy and club functionality.
Photo credit: Letorres
Over the years, their journey has been shaped by records that taught them how to balance restraint with release, vulnerability with rhythm, and emotional songwriting with electronic repetition. The five tracks below are touchstones — moments of recognition that helped Claxy define not only how they wanted to sound, but how they wanted to feel when making music.
That evolving identity is fully present in their new single ‘Underwater’ via Embassy One. Written over nearly four years, the track reconnects Claxy with their Brazilian roots through Portuguese vocals, Maculelê-inspired rhythms, and warm, melancholic electronic textures, while remaining firmly grounded in melodic and Afro-house.
As they look forward with ‘Underwater’, these five records offer a glimpse into the emotional and sonic compass that continues to guide them — from first inspiration to the dancefloor today.
1. Kiasmos – Looped
“When we moved to Germany in 2017, we were searching for a new language. Not just musically, but emotionally. ‘Looped’ was one of the first tracks that showed us what we were looking for: piano meeting machines, intimacy meeting repetition. The collaboration between Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen felt like permission. It proved you could honour classical sensibility while building something for the dancefloor. That balance between restraint and release became a north star for us. We still return to this track when we need to remember why we started.”
2. Monolink – Sirens
“There’s a specific kind of longing in ‘Sirens’ that we recognized immediately. Monolink writes like a folk singer who wandered into a Berlin club and decided to stay. The acoustic guitars, the space in the arrangement, the way his voice carries weight without shouting. When we heard this, we thought: you can bring the singer-songwriter tradition into electronic music without diluting either. You can be vulnerable at 120 BPM. That understanding shaped how Clara approaches vocals in our productions. Not as decoration, but as the emotional centre.”
3. HVOB – Panama
“HVOB taught us that darkness doesn’t have to be aggressive. ‘Panama’ floats in this space between tension and tenderness, Anna Müller’s whispered vocals drifting over hypnotic beats. As a duo ourselves, we watched how they built something larger than two people while keeping it intimate. There’s a restraint in their production that we admire deeply. They leave room for the listener to breathe, to feel. We think about that a lot when we’re tempted to fill every gap in a mix. Sometimes the space is the point.”
4. Christian Löffler – Lys
“‘Lys’ means light in Danish, and you can hear it. This track glows. Christian Löffler grew up near the Baltic Sea, and his music carries that landscape. He once said his goal was to produce electronic music that doesn’t sound electronic. That resonated with us. We come from Brazil, where rhythm lives in the body, not the grid. ‘Lys’ reminded us that texture and warmth matter more than perfection. It’s the track we put on when the studio feels too cold, too clinical. It brings us back to feeling.”
5. Bonobo – Kerala
“‘Kerala’ is named after a region in India that serves as a stopover for migrating birds. That idea of movement, of passing through, of carrying something from one place to another: that’s how we think about our music. We’re Brazilian artists living in Germany, singing in Portuguese and English, drawing from organic textures and electronic production. Bonobo showed us how to hold all of that without forcing it into one shape. ‘Kerala’ blends world influences with contemporary production in a way that feels natural, not calculated. It gave us confidence to let our own roots breathe.”
Claxy’s ‘Underwater’ is out now on Embassy One. Stream and download here.
Follow Claxy: Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram
