Are the Lawrence brothers, AKA Disclosure, the modern day Stock, Aitken and Waterman? Still ridiculously young at 21 and 24, Guy and Howard seem to have the same uncanny knack of turning everything they touch into radio sex. Think about it, swap Lorde for Kylie or Sam Smith for Rick Astley, update the synths and drum machines, and you’ve basically got ‘Better The Devil You Know’ or ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ for the 21st Century. Rather than hi-NRG, post-disco or bubblegum pop, Disclosure instead seem to be able to factory farm EDM monsters, nuclear bangers, and R&B so smooth that you need adhesive gloves to pick it up!
It might feel like a glib comparison but the evidence mounts up: beat-oriented compositions, heavy use of samples, predominantly up-tempo toe tappers, cheesy lyrical hooks and earworm melodies – all of these are present for both sets of writers. Just like Pete and the boys discovered the formula for stratospheric popularity and success in the 90s (more than 100 UK top 40 hits, selling 40 million records), I can’t help that feel Disclosure might be onto something similar.
The first 20 minutes of the record are slap-you-in-face-catchy – The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Gregory Porter, Lion Babe, Kwabs, Lorde. If this isn’t the Galacticos of pop, I don’t know what is! Each and every one of the first six songs are all serious unit-shifters. Honestly, pick one at random and release – you’ve got yourself a diamante encrusted hit.
Über confident opener ‘Nocturnal’ ft. The Weeknd is sleekness personified; each section gliding serenely and effortlessly; its deceptively simple chorus melody strangely satisfying. ‘Omen’ is a total hook-fest and Sam Smith sings it (therefore people will buy it). ‘Holding On’ has the best intro on the album; Gregory Porter’s voice coming across like a funky fog horn – it’s also one of the most successful combining of influences – classic house rhythms and icy synths with Porter’s infectious soul generously poured over the top. Lion Babe’s ‘Hourglass’ is attitude on toast – my goodness, it’s a great vocal.
Collaborations with Kwabs, Miguel and Jordan Rakei all offer more of an RnB flavour and a change of pace. They are all fantastic singers, but feel strangely interchangeable – it’s as if they could swap songs and it wouldn’t make any difference. I don’t know if that’s because they are all great songs, or conversely that there’s something generic about them or their production.
There is also a sense of Caracal playing as a greatest hits (or the trendiest ever Now That’s What I Call Music!) – with so many different artists on show, I’m struggling to pick up a narrative or personality to the record. When the tracks are so hooky, I suspect Disclosure are unconcerned.
Lorde appears on ‘Magnets’ and obviously the Lawrences were always going to hold back something special for her. Reversed synths create drama and the lolloping swing laid over some really interesting percussion mean this has groove in spades. The vocals are right up there in the mix – smoky and sultry. I can’t help but feel the subject matter is trite, though – “Pretty girls don’t know what I know.” The modern day equivalent of saying that fat people are beautiful on the inside. Come on – write about something with some actual resonance!
Howard Lawrence takes the mic on three songs: ‘Jaded’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘Molecules’, and they are impressive in their own way. It sounds like he spent an awfully long time multi-tracking like a man possessed and layering harmonies like an Eskimo might slip on the long johns, but there’s undoubted song-writing skill threaded throughout.
‘Molecules’ in particular has a dirty, driving funk to it – it makes you want to pull a face like you’ve just sniffed some very ripe brie and waggle your body like a freshly hooked sea bass. It’s ruddy good fun – I can see folk going particularly mental to this one at their gigs. It’s a shame it’s followed by ‘Moving Mountains’ ft. Brendan Riley – not because it’s a bad song, it’s just too much shade following ‘Molecules’ light.
Elsewhere, ‘Superego’ ft. Nao and ‘Bang That’ are a bit meh – the former sounding like EDM by numbers and the latter like a poor man’s Basement Jaxx. Needless to say they will also be hugely popular, too.
I’m always slightly wary of music that is so easy to like. Does it have any longevity or will I tire of its damned catchiness, choking on its tasty chops, meaty hooks and naughty basslines? I suspect I will get sick of it, or rather I will get sick of its exposure – I can’t see Caracal being anything other than monumentally successful – constant radio, overflowing synchronisation deals and intergalactic tours with all of the razzle dazzle promotion that accompanies them. We will be force-fed Disclosure until we are fit to burst. Those comparisons with Stock, Aitken and Waterman and their 40 million album sales won’t seem quite so fanciful if Disclosure remain on this course.
Adam Atkins
Website: disclosureofficial.com
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