How does one hype an electronic album? With collaborations of course!
Disclosure, an English electronic duo comprised of brothers, Guy and Howard Lawrence, succeeded through early releases that featured headline-worthy acts and Grammy winners. Accompanied by a series of music videos that followed a dystopian storyline – one can conclude that Caracal’s promotional strategy gave the listener a full grasp of the album’s feel and execution.
The 16-track album is not just electronic, but rather gives off a feeling of house with a hint of trance. The lyrics are sublime and match Disclosure’s creative delivery of songs.
Starting with ‘Nocturnal,’ a track strengthened by The Weeknd’s vocals, Caracal automatically takes you to a setting of ‘musical wilderness’: imagine darkness, shrubs blowing in the wind, birds chirping, wild animals roaming around to symphonic beats (you get the picture). The almost 7-minute song sets the pace of the album and is followed by ‘Omen’ featuring the talented Sam Smith, and them ‘Holding On’ with the soulful Gregory Porter. Lion Babe (who in my opinion is one of this year’s most promising debut artists) comes right after with the feel-good ‘Hourglass’ and is followed by sick beat singles ‘Willing & Able’ and ‘Magnets’ which include Kwabs and Lorde respectfully. The album loses a bit of its momentum after ‘Magnets’ but for a justifiable reason – maybe a way for the artist to build up again – until the singles ‘Superego’, ‘Masterpiece’ and ‘Molecules’ sweep you away with their meaningful messaging and musical prowess. The album ends with singles ‘Moving Mountains’ and ‘Afterthought,’ which are intended as ‘closing remarks’ for the album’s theme.
Like the cherry on top of the whipped cream of your ice cream, Caracal comes with two extra tracks (if you buy it from exclusive partnered sellers): the original demo of Porter’s ‘Holding On’ and an enjoyable Kevin & Dantiez Saunderson remix of ‘Bang That’.
Twenty years ago one would think that the electronic genre would be just robotic sounds bunched together to create a song. But with the emergence of artists such as Zedd, Major Lazer, Avicii, Calvin Harris and Disclosure in the past five years, you know that the music industry is evolving into the electronic age. Why? Because there are artists who are innovating music in a way that invigorates our hearing (with more than loops and repetitive dance beats), and lifts the staples of a good music and lyrics to a whole different level through collaborations, revivals and everyday sounds.
The Caracal is a long-legged lynx-like cat with black tufted ears and a uniform brown coat that is native to Africa and western Asia. Disclosure gave it a whole different meaning with this album. Listen to it and you’ll see.
