Settle (Deluxe)

The Artist

Disclosure is the British electronic duo of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, who grew up in Reigate, Surrey in a musical household and started releasing tracks online while still teenagers. Their sound draws deeply from UK garage, deep house, and 2-step, filtered through a pop sensibility and a knack for hook-driven vocal collaborations. By the time they signed to PMR and later Island, they had already built serious buzz through early EPs and remixes that reintroduced dance music to a young British audience. Settle is their debut full-length, arriving when both brothers were barely out of their teens, and it effectively launched their global career. The album positioned them as the leading edge of a UK dance revival that reshaped mainstream pop for years afterward.

The Album

Settle was released in the summer of 2013 on PMR and Island, produced entirely in-house by Guy and Howard Lawrence in home studio setups they had refined over years of bedroom production. The record leans on crisp, sample-heavy house grooves, live bass from Guy, and a rotating cast of guest vocalists chosen for texture as much as star power. It was recorded on a modest budget with a DIY workflow, which gives even the biggest tracks a homemade warmth under the polish. The deluxe edition rounds out the album with additional cuts like "Together" and a stripped alternate version of "F For You" that closes things out. Thematically, the record circles nightlife emotions: attraction, hesitation, heartbreak, and the small revelations that happen on and off the dancefloor.

Listen For

The build from silence to sweat. Notice how "Intro" bleeds directly into "When A Fire Starts To Burn," using a spoken-word sermon as the ignition point for the album's first proper drop.

Sam Smith's arrival. "Latch" was many listeners' first exposure to Sam Smith, and the falsetto leap in the chorus is the moment a career visibly begins.

Guy Lawrence's basslines. Pay attention to the live, funk-informed bass on tracks like "F For You" and "You & Me," which give the productions a physical bounce most electronic records lack.

Vocal chops as instruments. Across "White Noise," "Stimulation," and "Grab Her!," listen for how sampled and pitched vocal snippets are treated as melodic hooks rather than lyrics.

The comedown sequence. The stretch from "January" through "Help Me Lose My Mind" shifts the album from peak-time energy into introspective, late-night territory.