The Weekly Coos

When I use comparisons, I don’t try to use them loosely, especially when some of their parallels have more depth than the surface layer. But after looping the new Disclosure album, Alchemy, for a while, I noticed this unbridled sense of direction, where they can create without features but remain fluid, akin to albums like Discovery by Daft Punk. There’s this desire to command the dance floor again with new vibes that are more resonant with who they are and the histrionics of the genre, elevating their presence within the vibe. Yet there is something different about Alchemy, like how it commands aesthetics to remind you of how they elevated dance floors since their debut, Settle. It made them a mainstay in the genre, especially as their ears transcend with these remarkable mixes, from Cercle to Boiler Room and MixMag, to name a few. Alchemy is furthering that pursuit with these tangible distinctions between what they’ve excelled in and the middle ground where the melodies become more poignant than drum patterns on a UK-Garage sound, and these subsets bring other influences into EDM/House-centric beats, allowing the subtleties to maneuver through genres without feeling overly sizzled.

What makes Alchemy different from previous Disclosure albums – more so than the shift in production style – is the confidence and self-reliance to construct an album without features or vocal samples. Past albums like Settle, Energy, and Caracal, which are fantastic to decent, have had sidesteps where the influx of more overly poppy songs orchestrated to meet the demand of the algorithm behind furthering one’s plateau. It’s a common occurrence when getting swallowed by the Major-Label Machine, and Alchemy expresses an understanding of freedom that has since been modestly absent. In a press release to Billboard.com, Guy Lawrence noted how the album is a “celebration of us feeling liberated,” citing creative freedom as one of the cornerstones during the process…Howard Lawrence added that the time during which the record got conceived was a “combination of deep heartbreak and sadness, but also deep admiration and appreciation” since Guy got previously married and settled in Los Angeles, and Howard stayed in London, feeling exhausted after a heartbreak and a 150-date tour. You could say it was a tumultuous time, but it isn’t impossible to deliver greatness when members of bands live across oceans – look at what Chvrches created with Screen Violence.

As you traverse Alchemy, many thoughts may flood your mind, mainly how its tones have consistent downbeat virtuosity without ever taking you away from a danceable mood – it starts slightly rocky before truly hooking you with the chorus of “Higher Than Ever.” It captures the hypnotism within the melodic performance, but unlike the fun “Looking For Love,” it’s more audibly present. The vocal performances are significant in creating a better connection between sounds and themes; it’s weaving the feeling of musical freedom instead of the constrained nature of being part of a major label. As the music continues brings some parallels to the more subdued aspects of the loud and enigmatic Settle; it’s not all black and white. Think of “Latch,” where the drums are as pronounced as the synthesizers, and when it does, it’s the little things like the subtle cowbell in the beginning – now take notions of that and expand it through a luscious 11-track, 38 Minute album. What made Settle fantastic is its focus on the drums as one of the few alternating drivers who never let the percussion get to the point of over-indulgence – that parallel is seen here with its focus on the synthesizers and tempos being higher and thus creating vibe music for the fans. 

The vocals are as important as the production, especially when accounting for these self-reflections of life, trials, and tribulations as they make sense of the now. In doing so, you get moments where the vocals have a bejeweled presence with unique inflection points and vocal modifiers that shift the parameters to align with the melodic consistency of the synths and hypnotic formulations with the percussion. It’s that potent transition you yearn for, the ones that shift from a pure IDM-esque instrumental with pizzaz to the more techno-savvy club number “Brown Eyes.” More vocals get heard within the first half than the second, but that’s because the second half’s instrumentations are natural within its sonic trajectory, bringing a balance between two sides, specifically the one with more talent behind it. That isn’t to discredit Howard Lawrence’s vocals, as he comes with some sparking highlights in “Brown Eyes” and “Going The Distance,” it’s up to the modifiers to make it so there is luscious synergy with the excellent production, which has a consistent direction with the nook and cranny of the beat.

With the production, there is more focus on the synths and percussion instead of the vocals, frequently alternating through transitions, like how the drum machine’s melodic-heavy Garage and House tones on “White Noise” transition from the sensibly atmospheric Deep-House “F For You.” Those seamless transitions are present within Alchemy, but it doesn’t fully get going until a few songs in, and much of it comes from the fantastic synergy between the Lawrence brothers. These songs, “Simply Won’t Do” and “Higher Than I’ve Ever Been,” don’t have significant gravitas from both angles while the rest tries to make you forget the meandering quick downturn after the fantastic opener “Looking For Love.” The production radiates with its influence of Deep House and Garage, using it as beautifully pinpointed elements of the song’s characteristic makes you fall in love with it more than before. It becomes more prominent in the second half, where the beats are luscious and more established throughout its course. Without consistent quality on the production side, this album could have gone the ways of other EDM records, like the latest by the Blaze, where, without the vocals, the beats wouldn’t be as ardently great.

Alchemy is a fantastic, softening thrill that will have you thinking and dancing more than just losing yourself in the vibe and dancing. Disclosure comes with something to say, and they do so from both sides: production and vocals. The writing may not always be the most astute, but it gets by understanding the direction taken with its themes and melodies; you can’t help but keep it on repeat; I know I did all week. It might continue all weekend, but as I look back and reflect, I haven’t liked a Disclosure album as much as Settle until now, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.