If you're kicking off your brand new dance album, a record that will soon soundtrack festivals the world over, maybe you shouldn't do it with The Weeknd.
Hopes are high that Disclosure's second album, the follow-up to 2013's Grammy-nominated Settle, will send the bros from Surrey into the stratosphere. Butthey're quickly dashed when R&B crooner Abel Tesfaye delivers his dour sex scorn on Nocturnal - sample lyric: "There's freedom in the loneliness" - over an otherwise shimmering electro jam. Can't Feel My Face this is not.
Nocturnal is an interesting - probably incorrect - cut, chosen to open Disclosure's second album, one that Caracal never really recovers from. Yes, the silky smooth sophomore record from brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence is bolstered by a more impressive roster of guest artists than Settle.
There's Sam Smith, who Disclosure helped break on Settle's Latch, doing his thing on Omen, a song that bursts into life with a sweetly timed chorus, while R&B man-of-the-moment Miguel moans and pouts on Good Intentions, finding himself in a similar place to The Weeknd on Nocturnal. And as impressive as Jordan Rakei is on the closing ballad Masterpiece, Lorde steals the show on Magnets, a song that should probably have been used to open the album. Her classy hooks are a perfect match to Disclosure's shuffling stomp, a moment that bodes well for the Kiwi singer's second album.
Kiwi singer Lorde features on Disclosure's new album.
But for a band tapped to soundtrack all the hands-in-the-air moments at next year's new McLaren Falls festival in the Bay of Plenty, the rest of Caracal only occasionally moves out of second gear. Hourglass sounds like an inferior SBTRKT single, Will & Able plods along then peters out, while Jaded's chorus - sung impressively by Howard likes he's a member of Kora - takes too long to get there. Recent single Bang That - a total festival banger - is relegated to a bonus cut.
Echoes sums it up: Disclosure set themselves up with another interesting groove, one that desperately calls for the boys to freak out and really get their hands dirty. Instead it coasts for another two long, unmemorable minutes. They might have invited an impressive array of friends, but Disclosure really needed to host a better party for them.
Artist: Disclosure Album: Caracal (Out today) Label: Island Verdict: Bros find the middle of the road
