Brad Shoup can help you with all matters of musical law enforcement…
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[7.17]
Brad Shoup: A lovely slice of near-ecstacy with a martial backbeat. But I can’t get too bullish on an R&B song where the R stands for “restraining order.”
[6]
Alfred Soto: Just when Sam Smith flirts with the grainy sincerity of Tunde Adebimpe, the burbling, protean wonder of the track renders him into a sound effect more human than human.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: Disclosure are terrific at building a sonic environment so close and intimate that when overwhelming emotions are expressed in it, they feel like they’re coming from inside the listener instead of being projected on a twenty-foot screen (as in traditional house). The sense of dynamics and pacing here are to die for.
[7]
Anthony Easton: I can ignore the vocals here, because they are silly and love songy, and aren’t really worth thinking about, but the spaces between the vocals — that’s interesting. Space in the sense of absence, but also space in the sense of some grand cosmic sense — veering close to disco kitsch and ’80s video games, this actually sounds like science fiction, like an update on Sun Ra’s Space is the Place, but not as exterior, and not as jazzy. That the sound bubbles up wilder than any other instinct suggests an ambition that the vocals preclude.
[7]
Patrick St. Michel: Disclosure aren’t afraid to muddle up a nice sounding dance song with a slurred vocal sample or a sudden change in tempo mid track. “Latch” bounces from the start, but takes a step back just before the minute mark, the song slowing down just a bit as if it is taking a second to ask itself “should I do this?” Disclosure let that tension hang around for a bit more and build it up before it dives into a slightly rougher groove. “Latch” would still sound nice without this moment of drama, but it’s a lot better with it attached.
[8]
Will Adams: As with “Control,” Disclosure zone in on specific moments on the dancefloor. Now we’ve gone from flirtation to full-blown adulation. Sam Smith’s howling takes a few listens to get used to, but when he’s bathed in those luscious synths, the results are just exhilarating.
[8]