Nathan Fake - Caldera EP (2026) Hi Res

If Evaporator was a daylit breath of fresh air, Nathan Fake’s followup EP Caldera is scalding steam rising into the night sky; the same element transformed by different environments. The feedback cycle of writing and testing tracks on tour for his seventh album, released back in February, pushed his material in diverse directions. Ideas erupted and Caldera emerged: a microcosm of the manifold ways Fake’s sonic palettes coalesce, transitioning from the wide open space of Evaporator to simultaneously dreamier and more rugged territory.

All that energy contained in Evaporator’s melodic wisps now explodes in an EP fit for a tropical rave. Even though the title track was written over Christmas 2025, the fiercely pulsating tension of its unstable rhythm and clacking percussion conjures a crackling, lavalike flow. Its offcentre kicks steal attention as though the track could blow up at any minute, constantly building mystery with eerie howls and slippery starlight synths like a gaping mountain crater begging exploration.

Following microtonal piano from Clark on Evaporator’s ‘Orbiting Meadows’, acoustic forms continue to trickle into Fake’s discography. Pianos mist around the soporific and verdant mood piece of ‘Palau’, Fake’s take on a sort of psychedelic vaporwave funk fusion ebbing and flowing in and out of lucidity. ‘Gong Gong’ follows in a 40°C fever dream, its crunchy asteroid collisions and steamroom sizzles bringing a woozy yet sharp surge of adrenaline as ‘Slow Yamaha Dub’ continues to iterate on Evaporator’s titanic penultimate track, brought to a strange miragelike domain of dub splashes, clattering jackhammer cymbals, and a deep imposing bass buzz.

Caldera is a potent distillation of Nathan Fake’s live energy, as he continues to expand the limits of his gear and the dancefloor.