Disclosure’s last album Caracal was the sound of the duo – brothers Guy and Lawrence Howard – chasing rather than leading. The success of their 2013 debut album Settle, and the singles/EPs before it, wasn’t weighed so much by the ecstatic club response or critical acclaim, but the fact that the music sprang from a sincere love for old-school House: soulful, melodic, sexy, and playful. Deep grooves and liquid melodies, and a natural pop sensibility that sidestepped corniness, were all attached to the raw energy of underground dance clubs. It was a throwback and the present all at once. Caracal sounded like what you’d get if label moneymen dipped their hands in the creative pot to try to “build” on the sound.
The sample-heavy Moog for Love has them back where they started, and that’s actually not just a corrective but a progression. There’s a bit of grit coating the three tracks. The bottom is heavy and funky, layered with handclaps; the muffled and then crystal clear looped vocals on the title track, (done in collaboration with Eats Everything); the R&B sample that flowers into the tea-dance groove of “Feel Like I Do,” which is centered on snatches of Al Green’s vocal from his breezy classic “I’m Still in Love With You” and a winsome guitar lick; the beat-heavy disco frenzy of “BOSS.” In just three tracks, Disclosure do what all good DJs do – travel across mood and tempo while staying true to the power of the groove. Moog should find its way on a lot of summer music playlists.
Moog for Love is available on iTunes and Spotify.
