Disclosure – Settle
7.5/10
For regular readers of the site you should be well affiliated by now with dance duo Disclosure, which consists of brothers Guy (22) and Howard (19) Lawrence. Since first coming onto the music scene in 2010, they have made a huge impact on UK Dance music, developing a form of electronica that has found commercial success, seeing them go from the intimate surrounding’s of London’s Corsica Studios to the enormity of a stage at Coachella.
The Lawrence brothers have really hit the jackpot with their debut album ‘Settle’. They have found a winning combination of soul vocalists, great samples and catchy hooks over some infectious dance beats, which has resulted in the album going to number one in the UK album charts within its first week, which seemed beyond plausibility not too long ago.
Settle is an album that has massively sparked debates over the classification of its genre. Some of it is undeniably house music. There is a strong influence of straight 4/4 ‘90s house throughout the record; the album’s fourth track ‘F For You’, featuring Howard’s own vocals, serves as a good example of this. And ‘January’ featuring Jamie Woon also sits on the side of those claiming ‘Settle’ to be a house record. However, the album can also be viewed as a proud resurrection of UK Garage, with the hit single ‘You & Me’ acting as the band’s tribute to 90s garage; it features the vocals of Eliza Doolittle, who claims to have been a regular at garage raves and a fan of the movement. The seventh track on the album ‘Stimulation’ further proves a testament to the bands emphatic appreciation of UKG, consisting of a drum and bass compilation that produces a sound typical of 90s speed garage music.
The album can perhaps attribute some of its chart success to appealing to such a widespread fan base. It’s not just the underground dance scene that is catered for in Settle, there is something for everyone in this album, with R&B-sounding vocals and catchy ‘Pop’ songs like ‘Latch’ and ‘White Noise’, the latter single reaching number two in the UK.
It is worth noting however that the Lawrence’s have not set out to collect a dazzling ensemble of featured artists for this album. Instead opting to utilise the talents of friends & respected peers within the UK scene, there are eight separate features, which include Sam Smith, Jamie Woon and Eliza Doolittle. These artists have done little to impress the dance music scene in their respective careers but fear not… the Lawrence’s truly seem to bring out the best in them, often giving the vocalists space and making the beats work so well with each track topic. Other features on the album include the brilliant Jesse Ware in ‘Confess to Me’, reworking the magic evident in their remix of ‘Running’, and an interesting spoken word sample for the first two tracks. After failing to fulfill their desire to work with a rapper on the album, the Introduction features a sample of a Harlem preacher discussing the inevitability of change, which runs into the second track ‘When a fire starts to burn’ and works well introducing an album that changes its genre throughout.
The last track on the album ‘Help me lose my mind’ features London Grammar and the soothing vocals and slowed down tempo really work as a good finale to the album. It is a track in which Guy describes as a ‘peaceful ending to sets’, comparing its feeling to ‘the sun coming up in Ibiza’.
Whatever genre you wish to describe it as, the album acts a great showcase for British Dance music in 2013.
You can purchase the deluxe edition of the album on Itunes, which also includes the tracks ‘Boiling’, ‘What’s in your head’, ‘Tenderly’ and ‘Running’.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/settle-deluxe/id646716170
@AntonioSlimJim
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