When brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence released their impressive debut studio album Settle in 2013, the dance music landscape was already crowded with EDM artists scrambling for their next festival-sized drop. But here's a thing, they weren't looking to simply capitalise on the hype.
As Disclosure, they built on established UK dance subgenres and concocted a sound that's entirely their own, albeit with help from vocalists across genres -- Sam Smith, AlunaGeorge, London Grammar and Jessie Ware to name but a few.
On their sophomore album Caracal, the duo proceeded to enlist the aid of A-listers including The Weeknd, Lorde and Gregory Porter, effectively doubling down on their penchant (and, perhaps, reliance?) for high-profile guest spots. Then, in 2018, came a slight shift. The Lawrence brothers eschewed pop star cameos and turned their focus to crate-digging and global musical explorations. Led by the expertly chopped and sampled Moonlight, the result was a series of unearthed gems wrapped in contemporary dance textures.
Now, in anticipation of their forthcoming third album, Disclosure have come out with Ecstasy, a five-song EP built on their newfound love for global sounds and vocal editing. Drawing its inspiration from 70s disco, the title track features a soulful vocal sample of Aquarian Dream's 1978 Fantasy against a euphoric house backdrop. This is followed by two Afro-centric numbers Tondo and Etran, each expanding on samples from Cameroonian artist Eko Roosevelt and Niger-based group Etran Finatawa, respectively.
On Expressing What Matters, the pair revert to yet another straightforward house production, this time recontextualising Boz Scaggs' 1976 soul classic Lowdown into a banger vaguely reminiscent of Todd Terje's Inspector Norse. The EP then finishes off with Get Close, a bass-driven closer punctuated with elements of two-step garage and deep vocals repeating the track's title. Though this is one of the heavier offerings from the duo, it still has that Disclosure vibe that's instantly recognisable.
The verdict: Disclosure have made their career coasting on guest vocals. However, with this EP, the duo has made it clear that they're more than ready to broaden their musical horizons using their sample dice-and-slice producing skills. It's a triumph of an EP, one that should get fans properly teased for their incoming full-length.
Listen to this: Ecstasy, Expressing What Matters, Tondo.
THE PLAYLIST
Yves Tumor / Gospel For A New Century
At this point, it seems rather pointless to assign one specific genre to Tennessee-born experimentalist Yves Tumor. Over the course of three albums, he stomped through an eclectic mix of styles and influences, jumping from noise and ambient to rock and R&B with wild abandon. Now, as the arrival of his fourth LP Heaven To A Tortured Mind nears, he's ramping up his elusive sonic palette with lead cut Gospel For A New Century. Led by glorious horn blasts, the track is doused in equal parts funk stylings and infectious pop melodies. "This ain't by design, girl/ Take it softer/ You know I'm out my mind, girl/ Don't make this harder," he sings with a newfound swagger. This might be his most accessible offering yet.
Rina Sawayama / Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)
After a three-year wait, the Japanese-born British model-cum-songstress will finally release her debut studio album, SAWAYAMA, in the coming days. Before we get to that, though, here's a little teaser of what's to come and it's called Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys). On the track, Rina explores toxic masculinity and how we feel pressured to put on a male confidence in our daily lives. "I'm so confident/ Like the boys, like the boys!" she offers, casually throwing back to the high-energy pop-dance of the early 2000s.
STRFKR / Never The Same
Never The Same marks STRFKR's first song of 2020 and the first taste of what would be the follow-up to their fifth LP, Being No One, Going Nowhere. Compared to a handful of their synth-dominated offerings, the track moves at a more easygoing pace and without the usual synthpop frills. "Would you go on living forever/ I'll know when I'm ready to die," vocalist Josh Hodges croons atop lurching indie-rock melodies. "And my feelings still haven't changed/ They said I'm crazy for it." While details of their forthcoming record are still murky, it'd be interesting to see how this sonic shift will pan out for the band.
Dirty Projectors / Overlord
Long-enduring indie rockers Dirty Projectors re-emerge with a new single, Overlord, as well as a new line-up that includes touring guitarist and back-up singer Maia Friedman, Felicia Douglass, Kristin Slipp, Nat Baldwin, Mike Johnson and Mauro Refosco. Lead-sung by honey-voiced Friedman, the song is their first in two years following 2018's Lamp Lit Prose and contains all the usual components one might expect from the ever-evolving ensemble -- sprightly plucked guitar, shuffling drums and gorgeous layered harmonies.
Kevin Morby / I Was On Time
American singer-songwriter Kevin Morby gives us a gift of two brand-new tracks before embarking on a world tour of his 2019 double album Oh My God. One of them is I Was On Time, breezy indie-folk he's described as "an ode to being a live performer". So, what is it like being a live performer, you ask? Well, for Morby, it's mostly about being on time to play his own show and seeing "the many pretty people" bringing him "many pretty roses" in the front row. If only more artists were this responsible and appreciative of their fans, right?
