Guy and Howard Lawrence, brothers from Reigate, Surrey, aged 22 and 19 respectively, have become one of the hottest acts in British pop. They have done this by dint of being the figureheads of a genuine garage-house revival. Clubland has been embracing its goofier side for a good while, the macho wob-wob assault of much late period dubstep or the Guetta-esque trance-house cheese endemic in American “EDM”. Disclosure, on the other hand, recall the pared back, soulful sound of Chicago house in its earliest, purest form, amalgamated with a large dose of south London’s well-dressed two-step garage scene of a decade ago. They are, then, an emblem of hope for both taste-making oldsters despairing at heathens pissing in the dance music gene pool and those who simply want something light, easy, modern and hip to shake a leg to.
Albums similar to Settle have, over the last decade or more, appeared at regular intervals without so much as a flutter of wider media interest. To my ears what Disclosure do is backroom fare, bar fare, intended for a quick shuffle over a couple of beers, all dressed up impeccably. It’s well produced and slick, occasionally layering in memorable songs over the ceasless, rolling 4/4, such as the hit “White Noise” featuring Aluna George or the delicious, emotionally charged chug of “Help Me Lose My Mind”, featuring London Grammar. Both these numbers are thoroughly engaging, as is the impressive vocal input of Jessie Ware and Jame Woon elsewhere.
The more bounce the music has, the juicier it becomes, but real dancefloor oomph is not what Disclosure are about. “Stimulation” is almost muscular enough to make a rave move but much of this material celebrates being tasteful to such a degree that, after a while, it’s possible to tune Settle out completely. It is, in other words, background music disguised as dance music. I'm not sure that, despite the album's undoubted highlights, this is altogether groundbreaking.
Watch the video for "White Noise"