Disclosure announced the August 28 release of their new album, ENERGY, via Capitol Records. Disclosure, comprising brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, also shared the title track and accompanying video. The clip is their first official video in five years. “ENERGY” pits a raucous rhythm from an album of Brazilian library music against cut-up samples of Eric Thomas, the hip hop preacher whose words memorably appeared on 2013’s “When a Fire Starts to Burn.” Thomas gives the whole album a kind of manifesto: “Look! Where your focus goes, your energy flows. Are you hearing me?” The Kid Studio-directed video, which received a YouTube premiere, gives props to the underdog. The undeniably feel-good visual counteracts these somber times – and perhaps even serves as an illustration of uncanny foresight into the predicted post-lockdown baby boom?
Watch the video HERE and listen to “ENERGY” HERE.
Disclosure explain, “When we found Eric many years ago, he was like a goldmine of inspirational quotes and motivational speeches. Even if he was speaking to a room of five, it was like he was addressing a stadium. He has an immense presence and energy about him that translates so well into music – especially house music. This time, we cut up various speeches to make something that makes sense. What he says is basically the whole concept for the record, that’s why it became the title track.” In addition to Thomas, a global spectrum of talented artists grace the album – and, for the first time, this includes rappers. Appearances from Mick Jenkins, ChannelTres, Aminé and slowthai sit comfortably alongside the legend that is Common. Other features include the inimitable Kelis, who opens the album, and Fatoumata Diawara, who the boys have also linked up with previously. Cameroon’s Blick Bassy brings his own flow to the table while a powerhouse team of Kehlani and Syd ease the pace with their contribution. See below for track listing. Through an epic process of creation and distillation, the path to producing their shortest, most direct album – 11 songs, 39 minutes – ran through around 200 tracks: everything from drum loops to fully-realized songs. The title ENERGY dictated their choices. The brothers recall, “The thing that decided which songs made it and which songs didn’t was that one word: energy. Every track was written really quickly. That’s why we had to write so many songs because those ones don’t come up every day. Or every week. Or every month.” Since live touring has been paused during the global pandemic and their own plans for 2020 put on hold, Guy (and sadly not Howard as they isolated in different countries) found an outlet for his desire to give people a good time no matter what the circumstances by doing a regular run of their popular Kitchen Mix parties via live stream, a set for Boiler Room and a one-off special to celebrate Earth Day. Fans who pre-order the album digitally will instantly receive the title track. ENERGY will also be available on vinyl, CD and cassette. Pre-order HERE. Disclosure have worked diligently to produce environmentally responsible products by focusing on a number of recycled and sustainable materials across all formats.These include forgoing plastic hard-cases for both the CD and cassette formats, utilizing vegetable and water-based inks and varnishes and opting for a mixture of recycled and FSC-approved cardboard, which extends to two of the three vinyl options. For the third vinyl option, ENERGY will be available on Superecovinyl format, which uses re-granulated PVC pellets to press the vinyl (with no loss of audio quality), a fully 100% recycled Bargesse board derived from sugarcane for the sleeve and shrink-wrapped in a sustainable sugarcane-based plastic. This year marks 10 years since Disclosure debuted with the single “Offline Dexterity.” In that decade, the brothers, who are still in their 20s, have released two albums – Settle (2013) and Caracal (2015) – clocked up 4.5 billion streams and 4.5 million album sales, received five GRAMMY nominations, sold 500,000 tickets to their headline shows and topped festival bills all over the world, something they do with ease while also enjoying playing to packed-out sweaty clubs whenever they can. Both of their full-length albums topped the U.K. Official Albums chart and received GRAMMY nominations for Best Dance/Electronic Album. Settle was named the No.1 dance album of the decade by Billboard. A pair of EPs – Moonlight and Ecstasy – followed. When interviewers first asked Disclosure about their ambitions, they said they wanted longevity. They wanted to be able to move between clubs and festivals, stand-alone floor-fillers and substantial albums, DJing and performing. Ten years on, they’ve achieved their goal. “It’s such a privileged lane that we’ve found ourselves in,” says Guy Lawrence.
“It’s great that we can play to 20,000 people and then go and play a dark, sweaty rave. We just want the most amount of people to have the most amount of enjoyment. We can’t wait to do it again and again when the time comes.” – Guy Lawrence
Track Listing – ENERGY
1. Watch Your Step (Kelis)
2. Lavender (Channel Tres)
3. My High (Aminé, slowthai)
4. Who Knew? (Mick Jenkins)
5. Douha (Mali Mali) (Fatoumata Diawara)
6. Fractal (Interlude)
7. Ce N’est Pas (Blik Bassy)
8. ENERGY
9. Thinking ‘Bout You (Interlude)
10. Birthday (Kehlani, Syd)
11. Reverie (Common)
