July 10--REPORTING FROM LAS VEGAS -- Squeezed into the back seat of an eight-passenger helicopter with several of their mates, Guy and Howard Lawrence of the British dance duo Disclosure took in the sights several thousand feet below them.
There was the Las Vegas Strip, already sparkling as the sun set to the west. There were the squared plots and bright-blue swimming pools of the city's sprawling suburbs. And in the distance was the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a giant illuminated Ferris wheel rising from its center. This was their destination, the site of last month's Electric Daisy Carnival, America's biggest dance-music festival, where the Lawrence brothers were scheduled to entertain some portion of an estimated 130,000 people gathered to move their bodies in time to an unremitting beat.
To get a feel for the festival, nobody in the chopper had to wait to get there. Piped through the helicopter's headphones, a nameless DJ breathlessly narrated highlights from a previous EDC. "Make some noise!" he yelled as a four-on-the-floor thump cut through the roar of the blades.
Guy's horrified response? "No, please don't."
Blending catchy tunes with slick sounds from durable styles like house and U.K. garage, Disclosure is among the prime beneficiaries of the boom over the last few years in electronic dance music, known as EDM. The duo scored a worldwide smash in 2013 with its song "Latch," which topped Billboard's dance chart and has been streamed nearly half a billion times on YouTube and Spotify. (The song also helped launched the career of its featured vocalist, eventual Grammy winner Sam Smith.) "Settle," Disclosure's debut album, sold 1.6 million copies worldwide according to the group's label, and its success led to rare back-to-back appearances in 2013 and '14 at Coachella, which sometimes feels like America's second-biggest dance-music festival.
Yet with their highly anticipated follow-up, "Caracal," the Lawrences are aiming to move beyond EDM. Due from Capitol Records in late September, the album emphasizes the duo's flair for shapely melodies and thoughtful lyrics more than the rhythmic intensity that keeps the genre running.
"That sound is everywhere now, and every song's getting a little bit samey -- the same old bass lines, the same old samples. We're a bit bored with it," Guy, 24, said the day before the duo's Electric Daisy gig. Reclined on a sofa in a suite at the Delano hotel -- not far from Light, the Vegas nightclub where Disclosure holds down a popular monthly residency -- he tapped out a simple rhythm on his leg to demonstrate. "I want people to hear this record and think, 'Wow, they can do more than just a jacking house beat.' We've got a lot more to give."
Added Howard, 21, seated next to his brother: "I think people will be surprised by this record."
As they did for "Settle," the brothers recruited an impressive cast of vocalists to sing on "Caracal," which will come out just days before Disclosure is to play the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on Sept. 29. On one track, Lorde, who joined the group last year for a performance on the U.K.'s Brit Awards, shows a sultrier side. And there's another collaboration with Smith, whom Guy called "one of us."
But where "Settle" complemented the vocal tunes with a handful of instrumental club tracks, this album contains none of the latter. And some of the collaborations break new ground for the group, such as the disc's lead single, "Holding On," a gospel-flavored jam featuring the well-regarded soul-jazz singer Gregory Porter.
"These guys are really musicians," said Porter, who recalled writing the song, a stripped-down ballad in the beginning, around a piano with the Lawrences and their primary songwriting partner, Jimmy Napes. "When my piano player heard the tune, he was like, 'Hmm, there's really something going on here,'" Porter continued with a laugh. "He said, 'I wouldn't have thought of that.'"
Where they come from
For the Lawrences, focusing on "proper structured songs," as Howard put it, represents something of a return to their roots.
The brothers grew up in Surrey, outside London, the sons of two former professional musicians: a father who toured Canada with his band and a mother who sang radio jingles and performed on cruise ships. Music was always playing at home -- the Beach Boys, Seal, Rush, classic Broadway musicals -- and with various instruments around the house, both learned to play at a young age. When Guy was 17, he began going out to clubs and became interested in dance music.
"I'd come back and show Howard all these amazing new sounds that were being made in the U.K.," he said, referring to then-ascendant styles such as dubstep and U.K. funky. Soon they were tinkering with synths and drum machines and posting tracks they created to MySpace, where they quickly attracted attention from managers and record labels. The duo put out their first single in 2010; three years later, after a string of increasingly buzzed-about EPs, Disclosure released "Settle" to rave reviews and a Grammy nomination for best dance album.
The group's crafty but exuberant sound attracted the interest of a wide array of artists, including Chic founder Nile Rodgers, who teamed with Disclosure and Smith for a slinky 2013 single called "Together," and the R superstar Usher, who drafted the Lawrences to remix his song "Good Kisser." Last year, Mary J. Blige added vocals to a new version of the "Settle" highlight "F for You," which led to the duo co-writing and producing two cuts for Blige's album "The London Sessions."
"She can work with anyone she wants, and she wanted to go and work with two white guys from Surrey," Guy said, visibly moved. "It was amazing."
These collaborations expanded the possibilities for Disclosure's upcoming album. "It's not like we have everyone in the world knocking on our door," Guy insisted. "But it was pretty crazy the people who were up for it."
Rather than grab the biggest names available, though, the brothers assembled a mix of well-known artists, some of whom have yet to be announced, and less established up-and-comers, such as Kwabs and Lion Babe. That's a reflection of their belief that one benefit of success -- and one responsibility it carries -- is shining a light on emerging talent. But it's also the result of their determination only to feature singers they could work with in person as opposed to over the Internet, which is how many modern pop records are created. Camped out in their London studio with Napes, who co-wrote "Latch" (as well as several cuts on Smith's smash "In the Lonely Hour"), the brothers brought in vocalists and together built tunes from scratch.
