Considering all the shrewd alliances and its polished attack, Settle seems like it was designed to be 2013's acceptable dance album. That said, any purist who denies its pleasures is a crank.
The Surrey duo have not only made 2013's best dance record so far-- they've also concocted one of the most assured, confident debuts from any genre in recent memory.
We don’t always need the best dance record of the year to push the genre forward into unseen territory; it’s hard to see anyone besting Settle for the title in 2013
Slinky enough for the club, down-tempo enough for a rooftop soiree, Settle traverses boundaries and expectations.
They're still more interested in presenting exhilarating dance music than trying to analyze its power.
Settle is nearly impossible not to like. It nonchalantly surpasses expectations at nearly every turn.
Settle is the aural fruits of Disclosure’s mission to reinvigorate dance and pop by annexing and consolidating their favourite sounds from the sonic side-streets of house music’s sprawling musical past.
Guy and Howard make few slip-ups, ensuring the fire burns, and will continue to do so until this house revival is less a sudden resurrection, more a fad of the past.
Fortunately, Settle doesn't settle; each new track finds them testing their own formulas.
Though their brand of dance music is indeed a squeaky clean one, Settle doesn't feel like it's trying to be an underground dance music record.
It’s not perfect ... but it’s a consistently thrilling debut.
It's the fact that Disclosure make bookish, aurally factual electronica sound so carefree that makes Settle such an artistic success.
It’s on tracks like ‘Latch’ that we see exactly why Disclosure have crept to the top of the charts, yet remain on the setlists of top selectors – it’s their ability to solder emotion and soul onto hyperactive dance riddims.
In a period where we’ve reached EDM saturation and electronic music regularly argued, and threatened to eat itself, Disclosure’s retro deference strikes a joyous crisp balance that plays out in the club, in the chart, and in headphones.
Settle is a rare animal: an EDM album that actually flows like an album should.
Settle is a soulful, accomplished and versatile record.
Throughout, ‘Settle’ will blind you with so much sheen you’ll want to tile your bathroom in it.
If anything prevents it from being an instant classic, it’s that it’s simply not risky enough to be a game changer.
Disclosure are still young, and in terms of its aims – combining house music and pop for a young British audience currently captivated with the idea of the former but reliant on the hooks of the latter – Settle succeeds.
Disclosure have found an erratic blend of deep house and pop that, while not entirely original, has moments of greatness.
Settle is by no means a terrible record, but it is far from a great one ... in terms of both quality and innovation it has become painfully obvious they’ve lost their way.
Settle ends up being a wonderful compilation of other famous voices. There's the occasional flicker of real promise outside of the star power, but aside from that, it's a record carried by other people.
#1 | / | Time Out London |
#2 | / | Urban Outfitters |
#3 | / | Billboard |
#3 | / | Pitchfork |
#3 | / | Red Bull |
#4 | / | Gigwise |
#4 | / | PopMatters |
#4 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#4 | / | Stereogum |
#5 | / | Slant |