For years I had been toying with this concept of a parallel universe, where pop music’s values were reversed. The beat makers were the stars and the vocalists simply played second fiddle. This recipe wasn’t entirely far-fetched. Acts such as The Chemical Brothers had applied this formula successfully before, but it wasn’t until I heard Disclosure ’s earlier singles ‘ Blue You ’, ‘ Tenderly ’ & Settle ’s second single ‘ White Noise ’, did I believe this role reversal could possibly transition across into mainstream dance music.
The difference between Disclosure and their prior influences is that they would replicate the same 2-step rhythm techniques of Joy Orbison or Sepalcure , but instead of burying the vocals masked in effects down in the mix, they’d leave them sitting at the forefront of a song. Essentially 2-step meets pop, a double threat that could appeal to both people wearing headphones and people who just want a club banger.
However, maintaining this level of pop execution for the entire hour on Settle would be tough for anyone, let alone two boys who are younger than all eight guest vocalists that collaborated with them. While some of the collaborations tracks were always going to be a bit hit or miss, it’s surprisingly their solo sampling material that’s their least inspired work to date.
It starts fairly effortlessly on the sampled tracks ‘ When A Fire Starts To Burn ’ and ‘ F For You ’, that are clean, snappy and clearly contain all of Disclosure’s signature tricks. Then they turn to a bland 90s house beat on ‘ Stimulation ’, that contains an admirable bass-line until it quickly becomes repetitive. Similarly, ‘ Grab Her ’ takes a J Dilla sample, adds unimaginative percussion and clunks along for 5:13 to a 4/4 beat.
The continued use of the 4/4 beat throughout the middle of the album is mystifying. It all starts on ‘ Defeated No More ’, that features Ed Macfarlane from Friendly Fires , who again provides a solid vocal effort (along with his stellar work earlier this year with FaltyDl ). But it’s Disclosure who let him down with a dull, stiff and stagnated beat directly on top of his voice. Where the arrangement was at least interesting enough to carry that approach on ‘ Latch ’, the 4/4 beat just feels uninspired and uncharacteristic.
The album’s two highlight tracks ‘ White Noise ’ and ‘ You & Me ’ are the furthest removed from the 4/4 beat. They allow their signature interplay sound to play a major factor and remind the listener that this is the work of an artist and not a DJ.
The other issue Disclosure doesn’t resolve on Settle is their ability to evolve a track. Half way through collaboration songs such as ‘ January ’, ‘ Confess ’ & ‘ Help Me Lose My Mind ’ (that almost adds a memorable delicate dimension to Disclosure), they find a melody that both parties find acceptable, stick to it and let it roll its course.
Disclosure simply play it safe on their most recently recorded material displayed on Settle , but considering all the recent success the two brothers have achieved at a combined age of only 41, it’s an understandable result.
WORDS BY Marcus Rimondini
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