Review Summary: Caracal (feat. Disclosure)
What made "Latch" so special was the way Sam Smith interpolated himself in Disclosure's labyrinthine compositions. Assorted among a series of undeniable grooves, Smith posited hook after hook with unbelievably fast refreshment. By the time you've heard its throbbing overload of a chorus, you're left stunned, if only because neither Smith nor Disclosure can possibly meet such great heights in the immediate future. It was a fantastic single, the ultimate triumph of face value and primal hedonism over any critical analysis that may render it 'intelligent' or otherwise. It's for that reason that "Omen",
Caracal's second attempt at an almighty single, is such a disappointment. All that ecstasy, rhythm, and infectiousness? It's gone, in its place a mid-tempo, slow-burning tune that doesn't sound too far removed from what Sam Smith was attempting with
In the Lonely Hour. Granted, though "Omen" is certainly better and more colorful than anything Smith attempted on his debut, it exhibits
Caracal's worst tendency that
Settle so effortlessly avoided; it panders to its guests, and in doing so, destroys the dynamic that made their debut so breathtakingly carefree and danceable.
For those who thought
Settle to be some great resurrection of house music,
Caracal is guaranteed to disappoint. In part, that's due to how massively overrated
Settle was out of context; however,
Caracal doesn't make itself a strong enough case to contend with what was undeniably one of the most unpretentiously enjoyable albums of the decade. More often than not, the Lawrence brothers play into their guests' strength rather than introducing them into the beat and using them as a necessary tool of improving their delivery. This seems especially true of "Magnets" and "Good Intentions", boasting Lorde and Miguel features respectively, where the featured name seems more important than the composition built around them. Not that those compositions are particularly engaging, though, acting better as bedrock for whoever's been invited to craft a hook. Obvious single choices- the spacey flow of "Nocturnal", featuring The Weeknd, comes to mind- are the clear highlights, if only because their hooks seem to have had a little more attention payed towards them than the mildew deep cuts that pop up all too frequently. Remember how tight the sample in "When a Fire Starts to Burn" was with its repetitious loop and throbbing urgency? Well, you won't find that here; what you will find though is a set of songs read better as 'featuring Disclosure'. That's not necessarily a negative, but in a time where the words in the parenthesis tend to speak louder than the quality of the track, it's massively disappointing.
