British duo Disclosure push the boundaries of dance music
"We've got a lot more to give" than just electronic dance music, Guy Lawrence says
Squeezed into the back seat of an eight-passenger helicopter with several of their mates, Guy and Howard Lawrence of British dance duo Disclosure took in the sights several thousand metres below them.
There was the Las Vegas Strip, already sparkling as the sun set in the west. There were the squared plots and bright-blue swimming pools of the city's sprawling suburbs. And in the distance was the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a giant illuminated Ferris wheel rising from its centre. This was their destination, the site of last month's Electric Daisy Carnival, America's biggest dance music festival, where the Lawrence brothers were scheduled to entertain some portion of an estimated 130,000 people gathered to move their bodies in time to an unremitting beat.
Blending catchy tunes with slick sounds from durable styles such as house and UK garage, Disclosure are among the prime beneficiaries of the boom over the past few years in electronic dance music, known as EDM. The duo scored a worldwide smash in 2013 with their song Latch, which topped Billboard's dance chart and has been streamed nearly half a billion times on YouTube and Spotify. (The song also helped launched the career of its featured vocalist, eventual Grammy winner Sam Smith.) Settle, Disclosure's debut album, sold 1.6 million copies worldwide, and its success led to rare back-to-back appearances in 2013 and 2014 at Coachella, which sometimes feels like America's second-biggest dance music festival.
Yet with their highly anticipated follow-up, Caracal, the Lawrences are aiming to move beyond EDM. Due out in late September, the album emphasises the duo's flair for shapely melodies and thoughtful lyrics more than the rhythmic intensity that keeps the genre running.
"That sound is everywhere now, and every song's getting a little bit samey - the same old bass lines, the same old samples. We're a bit bored with it," Guy, 24, says the day before the duo's Electric Daisy gig. "I want people to hear this record and think, 'Wow, they can do more than just a jacking house beat'. We've got a lot more to give."
It’s not like we have everyone in the world knocking on our door. But it was pretty crazy the people who were up for it
Adds Howard, 21, seated next to his brother: "I think people will be surprised by this record."