SETTLED DOWN
Aside from a host of new collaborators, Disclosure’s second album is just a less exciting version of their first
DISCLOSURE/ CARACAL
Guy and Howard Lawrence became a household name in 2013 with their Sam Smith-featured single Latch. Not only did their subsequent debut record, Settle, go platinum, it also picked up a handful of Grammy, Brit Award and Mercury nominations along the way. From Sam Smith and Jessie Ware to Jamie Woon and Ed Macfarlane, Disclosure’s collaborations helped bring its well-balanced mixture of deep house, UK garage, soul, R&B, and pop to the masses. Settle made electronic dance music cool again after the genre had been so overrun by EDM.
Caracal, the duo’s follow-up to Settle, relies on the formula that brought their initial success and worldwide recognition. Apart from Sam Smith, the Lawrence brothers have recruited a cast of new, slightly eclectic collaborators to aid them on the 14-track set. Running nearly seven minutes, opener Nocturnal features R&B crooner du jour Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye). “My shadow doesn’t show in the dark/ The night time is inclined to my heart/ The emptiness I felt from the start/Will follow me ’til I fall apart,” Tesfaye coos alongside synth arpeggios reminiscent of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and, by extension, Giorgio Moroder. It’s all well and good until it reaches the halfway mark where things get a bit tedious and we can’t help but mumbling “alright already” under our breath. Next up is the Sam Smith-assisted Omen, a sleek R&B number which, unfortunately, can’t hold a candle to their previous collaboration — the breakthrough single, Latch.
The Balearic-house Holding On finds the duo joining forces with seasoned American jazz singer-songwriter Gregory Porter. “I’ve seen times that were harder/I remember the taste of bitterness/Won’t you help me, my father?/Help me fall in the love that I have missed,” Porter offers up a slice of skilled soulfulness. Hourglass, on the other hand, gets its sass and zest from Jillian Hervey, one half of emerging New York neo-soul duo Lion Babe. Over a club-friendly beat, she sings “Eyes on the hourglass/As we sink into the sand/Time’s up, there’s nothing we can do about it/It’s fine, love, ’cause I know I’mma live without it.”
Superego (featuring Nao) recalls Aluna-George-featured White Noise from Disclosure’s debut album while electro-inspired Magnets rightfully arrives as the album’s centrepiece with its superstar guest vocalist Lorde. “Uh-oh, dancin’ past the point of no return/Let go, we can free ourselves of all we’ve learned,” she urges. “I love this secret language that we’re speaking/Say it to me, let’s embrace the point of no return/ Let’s embrace the point of no return/Let’s embrace the point of no return.” Masterpiece (featuring Jordan Rakei) and Moving Mountains are the album’s two veritable slow jams while Jaded mirrors F For You, with Howard on vocal duties (“Why oh why do you have to lie/What are you afraid of/ We know what you’re made of”).
For masters of reinvention such as Disclosure, it’s quite surprising that the majority of Caracal is reminiscent of the sound that dominates Settle. Almost every track can be paired — and compared — with its counterpart on Settle. For fans, this is, of course, not an issue, but for the rest of us, this familiarity can get tedious pretty quickly. Let’s hope the boys step out of their comfort zone and bring us something more groundbreaking next time around.