Disclosure

EDM is more popular than ever. Last year the electronic dance music duo Disclosure released their debut full-length album. In the UK, their home country, Disclosure’s Settle sold more albums than Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus or Kayne West. The brothers behind Disclosure, Guy and Howard Lawrence, will tell you that electronic dance music has always been here, but it is here now in a way it hasn’t been before. Why is that?

Settle leads off with “When a Fire starts to Burn”. The song samples the voice of a self-proclaimed “hip-hop preacher” and the accompanying music video is a provocative montage of the preacher (and the music) working up the crowd to a frenzy. House music and gospel music do have things in common so the use of a preacher as vocalist says something beyond just looking cool. Both gospel and house use repetitive lyrics and hooks with the effect of creating an emotional experience for the participant. You could consider clubs the temples of a 21st century secular society – with DJs standing in for ministers. The effect of going to church or a club is the same. You enter a place with a group of people and have a shared experience. The audience, in this case led by the DJ, is directed towards the same emotional experiences. You leave feeling uplifted and connected to your other fellow participants. However, the analogy to gospel music was probably unintentional. Guy and Howard originally wanted to get a rapper, but couldn’t get one and thought a hip-hop preacher would be the next best thing.

There are so many layers to understanding pop culture nowadays – musical mash-ups and sampling, the subtle and not-so-subtle cultural

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Sonically we were taking an approach from the past, but we wanted to update it and give it a modern twist using vocalists.

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EDM is more popular than ever. Last year the electronic dance music duo Disclosure released their debut full-length album. In the UK, their home country, Disclosure’s Settle sold more albums than Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus or Kayne West. The brothers behind Disclosure, Guy and Howard Lawrence, will tell you that electronic dance music has always been here, but it is here now in a way it hasn’t been before. Why is that?

Settle leads off with “When a Fire starts to Burn”. The song samples the voice of a self-proclaimed “hip-hop preacher” and the accompanying music video is a provocative montage of the preacher (and the music) working up the crowd to a frenzy. House music and gospel music do have things in common so the use of a preacher as vocalist says something beyond just looking cool. Both gospel and house use repetitive lyrics and hooks with the effect of creating an emotional experience for the participant. You could consider clubs the temples of a 21st century secular society – with DJs standing in for ministers. The effect of going to church or a club is the same. You enter a place with a group of people and have a shared experience. The audience, in this case led by the DJ, is directed towards the same emotional experiences. You leave feeling uplifted and connected to your other fellow participants. However, the analogy to gospel music was probably unintentional. Guy and Howard originally wanted to get a rapper, but couldn’t get one and thought a hip-hop preacher would be the next best thing.

There are so many layers to understanding pop culture nowadays – musical mash-ups and sampling, the subtle and not-so-subtle cultural references. It can be bewildering for people who aren’t neck deep in the zeitgeist. Critics have unpacked Disclosure’s music and said that parts are derivative of earlier house music sounds or that it’s not particularly innovative. But those criticisms completely miss the point and don’t help explain the extraordinary success of these two brothers. Somewhat bewildered by their success Guy explains, “The size of the shows we have been playing has gone off to a huge extent. We were playing to people in 200-300 capacity venues and now we are doing 50,000 people at festivals.” Why is that? Because the way to appreciate and understand Disclosure’s music is emotionally, not intellectually.

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Settle is extremely polished; never mind the young age of Guy and Howard. The craftsmanship and expert production has made the album popular, but it’s their use of vocalists that has set them apart. “Sonically we were taking an approach from the past, but we wanted to update it and give it a modern twist using vocalists,” says Guy. The lyrics make the music accessible, providing a touchstone for people unfamiliar with house music. The goal for Guy and Howard was to create a pop-house album and they have succeeded. “There was an idea that we just wanted to make a combination of instrumental club music, house music and garage. A mixture of that same sound, but with vocalists in a more pop structure,” explains Guy.

What’s refreshing about Guy and Howard is their willingness to work with anybody, whether it’s a fresh face or an experienced star. Before providing the vocals for Disclosure’s breakthrough single “Latch”, English singer-songwriter Sam Smith was not a household name in the UK. Then “Latch” blew up and launched Sam Smith into fame. Howard tells us that the first time they heard Sam sing was on a phone recording. “It was just ridiculously good,” says Howard. Guy chimes in: “He is fucking awesome. Heard his voice and we loved it.” On the very next track, “F For You”, Guy and Howard seamlessly switched gears and collaborated with Mary J. Blige. For vocalists, Guy and Howard are easy to work with. “I do more of the production and mixing and Howard does more of the lyric writing, top line writing. But we both contribute to almost everything. It’s pretty shared,” says Guy. They create the sonic framework for the song, but give vocalists latitude in writing the lyrics. Exactly what lyrics the vocalists come up with isn’t predetermined by Guy and Howard – underscoring the primacy of the emotional message of the melody over the intellectual meaning of the lyrics.

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The focus is on the playing of instruments ’cause there are a lot of acts out there, especially in dance music, where it’s just a guy with a laptop.

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Like most successful people, the seeds of their success can be seen in the previous generation – Guy and Howard’s parents were musicians themselves. Surrounded by music from an early age, Guy and Howard have built on the modest successes of their parents. Guy learned to play drums at three. Howard picked up the bass guitar at eight or nine. Unlike many other electronic dance acts, they play instruments on stage. “The focus is on the playing of instruments ‘cause there are a lot of acts out there, especially in dance music, where it’s just a guy with a laptop,” says Guy. It’s another way for Guy and Howard to connect with their audience and another thing that separates them from other DJs. Guy continues: “[A DJ] could be doing nothing; he could be doing loads of things. But at the end of the day it’s just on a screen and no one can see the screen. So we bring keyboards, bass guitars, drums and a big light show with a bit of visuals to try and make it exciting. Create a club atmosphere – you feel like you are at a club but you are watching a show.”

Each track on Settle has great texture. “You and Me” is a good example. Sounds ebb and flow creating a dissonant but not unpleasant soundscape. Guy and Howard experiment with bringing in many samples. “On this album there are lots of ambient noise recordings – sounds from train stations and shopping malls. It’s in the background of most tracks,” says Guy. The varied vocalist styles taken together with the eclectic background sounds and melodies create a rich, interesting album.

Disclosure’s Settle was nominated for the Grammy for best dance/electronica album before ultimately losing to Daft Punk. Nothing to be ashamed of considering the heights that Daft Punk has soared to in the last decade. Guy is 22. Howard is 19. As a debut album it’s hardly unreasonable to have high expectations for their musical careers. If you’ve already heard them you know all this. If you haven’t, check them out – they’ll make a convert out of you.

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