Disclosure – Settle (Cherrytree)
When you look at the tracklist of a debut album and see “feat.” after most of the song titles, that’s usually not a good sign — especially in dance music, where too many guests usually connote a mercenary hit-chasing desperation that can’t quite cover up a lack of personality on a producer’s part. But on Settle, the first album from the young fraternal British duo Disclosure, all the guest singers just make sense. The Lawrence brothers are sharp, intuitive collaborators, producers who know how to draw out Jessie Ware’s inner house diva or use the icy texture in Aluna Francis’ voice for all its worth. And in with its grand choruses, its percolating basslines, and its lush and complex syncopations, Settle isn’t just a great dance album; it’s a great pop album full of songs that bang hard enough to work as club anthems. –Tom [LISTEN]