Disclosure's 'Settle' turns 10

At the 2014 Brit awards, two near-identical DJs performed a medley of “Royals” with vocals from burgeoning star Lorde and “White Noise” with British pop star Aluna Francis, half of the duo AlunaGeorge. The brothers, Guy (then 21) and Howard (then 18) Lawrence, played drums and bass, respectively, Howard sang backing vocals, and they both played synth. They were set on opposite sides of the stage, on tall scaffolding platforms angled toward each other. Sometimes it looked like they were moving totally in sync, pivoting around their rigs with precision. A giant neon line drawing of a face glowed in front of them. This had become the calling card of rising electronic duo Disclosure.

Prior to that, Disclosure released The Face EP with vocal features from Sinead Harnett and Ria Ritchie, and they remixed Jessie Ware’s “Running” and brought her out at Coachella. They joined SBTRKT for a UK show and featured on a mix of his. Their bass-heavy sound gained them a reputation as a rising voice in the UK dance scene and beyond. By the time of the Brits in 2014, they’d made the rounds in the UK and European festival scene, and even made it to the US for Coachella. They’d garnered a popular following, but British critics had mixed reviews. Their debut LP Settle first hit the internet on May 31 of 2013, ten years ago today.

Settle saw Disclosure add higher-profile features to their roster, and take strides to differentiate their sound–to mixed reception. Resident Advisor praised the album for its willingness to lean into charismatic pop and summery disco, but detailed the common criticism among die-hard ravers: “Predictably, Disclosure have seen quite a backlash from the dance community. For some, their sound is too retro, reaching back to the apex of early ’00s commercial UK garage. For others, their choice to privilege vocal gems over club tracks is simply unforgivable, a clear indication that their mind is on the charts.” The Guardian similarly commented that snobs will say “Disclosure aren’t real deep house,” and continued, “You only have to look at the list of guest stars on their debut album to conclude brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence are possessed of a distinct pop sensibility… The handful of instrumental tracks suggest Disclosure aren’t particularly adept at making straightforward dance music… But the Lawrences’ considerable skills lie elsewhere, in writing really strong pop songs.” And it’s true: many tracks on Settle, beyond the uber-catchy singles, went on to chart across the UK and Europe, and some made it stateside.

To American critics, Settle was a revelation, with Pitchfork declaring, “The Surrey duo have not only made 2013’s best dance record so far– they’ve also concocted one of the most assured, confident debuts from any genre in recent memory.” Rolling Stone said Disclosure were “heir[s] to the tradition of the Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk: marquee EDM duos as devoted to vocal-driven songcraft as they are to beatmaking. The pair’s debut is a modest masterpiece of production finesse, rooted in house but borrowing from hip-hop, dubstep and other club mutations.” And it’s true: you can hear so much 20th century influence in Disclosure’s production, and the beginning of a highly infectious pop sound with track upon track of hooks. Theirs is a unique marriage of pop and dance music, taking heavy influence from disco and ‘90s and ‘00s American house and pairing that with features from established and rising UK pop musicians. The first indication of their success was lead single “Latch,” which launched Sam Smith’s career in the US (and remains one of the best dance songs of the 2010s). A radio favorite, the song charted at #11 for UK Singles, and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Guy and Howard followed up “Latch” with aforementioned “White Noise,” which peaked at #2 on UK Top 40, and “You & Me” featuring Eliza Doolittle (which Flume masterfully reworked on Settle (The Remixes)). “White Noise,” Sasha Keable-featuring “Voices,” and even “Latch” share a glittery, modern take on disco–fun, dance-ready ear candy densely layered with fluttering synths. These work in tandem with the more soulful, intimate lyricism and vocals of “You & Me,” “Defeated No More” featuring Friendly Fires’ Edward MacFarlane, and “January”’ featuring Jamie Woon, not to mention the icy R&B of final track “Help Me Lose My Mind” with an assist from dreamy indie pop band London Grammar. The stacked cast of contributors shine over Guy and Howard’s pristine instrumentation and production, meshing pop, dance, garage, R&B, and disco to make a style all their own; assertive and impressive on their full-length debut.

At the center of the album are three club-ready instrumentals, all with a different flair, building in intensity. These tracks, while less shiny in the larger scope of the album, help solidify Settle as an enduring landmark of dance music in the 2010s. “Stimulation” flips a sample of Jill Scott’s “A Long Walk” with Detroit techno-inspired bounce. In a similar vein, “Second Chance” folds in a sample of “Get Along With You” by Kelis, but the song contrasts “Stimulation” with chopped up vocals and slowed, kaleidoscopic production. Rounding out the trio is “Grab Her!,” a direct tribute to the late J Dilla–who produced the sampled track, J-88’s “The Look Of Love Pt. 2.” It’s another send-up to Detroit with urgent, propulsive synths playing ascending and descending scales, veering almost into acid house. Disclosure slot these more obscure tracks directly in the middle of the album not to bury them, but to experiment with styles that clearly inspire the pop they open and close with.

Two other key songs that show off Settle‘s range are “Confess To Me” and “F For You.” The former features Jessie Ware, a friend of the duo who has gone on to fully embrace the disco revival, however “Confess To Me” has one of the darkest, most industrial beats on Settle, and Jessie takes on a sultry tone that contradicts the earnest joy of the remainder of the album. “F For You,” which has vocals from Howard Lawrence himself, sees Howard take on a frosty attitude with loopy synths and bouncing percussion. It’s not quite clubby enough to fit with the instrumentals, nor does it sit comfortably with the pop hits. Still, it’s another show of Disclosure’s ambition–little is off the table.

Emotionally incisive, narrative songwriting across Settle creates a welcome balance for some 45 minutes of unrelenting house beats. “January” plays like a sadder version of Earth Wind and Fire’s “September”; Sasha Keable brightens and breaks up the deep house intensity of “Stimulation” and “Voices”; “Help Me Lose My Mind” provides a comedown from the near-nonstop thump of the album. All of these contradictory ideas add texture to what could’ve been a flat, overly-happy showcase of radio-ready dance-pop like many acts that followed.

A decade later, Settle is still setting the bar for popular dance music (as many Overmono reviews agree). Its “Intro” and leading track “When A Fire Starts To Burn” use samples of the same speech by author and pastor Eric Thomas, opening with the notion of “spontaneous combustion” and introducing the recurring theme of fire–a metaphor for passion, love, lust, and anger–before the Lawrence brothers loop one of Thomas’ quotes over the album’s hardest club track. The introduction asks the portentous question, “How do you stay motivated in the midst of everything that’s going on?” Raising such a fundamental question from the outset turned out to make an enduring statement; the volume of “everything that’s going on” has only risen in the last ten years, and the world doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Settle has ridden alongside the mounting tension for a decade, a dance-pop antidote to sitting still.