Energy (Disclosure Album)

''Energy'' (stylised in all caps) is the third studio album by British electronic music duo Disclosure. It was released on 28 August 2020 through Island Records.

The album is their first full-length release since ''Caracal'' in 2015, and subsequently their first major release since ''Ecstasy'', an EP consisting of five songs later included on the deluxe edition of ''Energy''. The deluxe edition also includes the duo's two hit singles with American singer-songwriter Khalid, " Talk" (previously released on Khalid's second studio album '' Free Spirit'') and " Know Your Worth". In addition, the album features collaborations with several singer-songwriters, including Kelis, Channel Tres, Aminé, Slowthai, Mick Jenkins, Fatoumata Diawara, Blick Bassy, Kehlani, Syd, and Common.

After experiencing delays, ''Energy'' was ultimately released in the summer of 2020 due to its "positive messages" that Disclosure hoped would resonate with people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented the duo's musical diversity and strong collaboration choices, though some highlighted lyrical weaknesses. ''Energys sound has been described as house mixed with elements of dance, R&B, and international music such as African-influenced stylings.

The album was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The song "My High" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Background

Disclosure released ''Caracal'' in September 2015, "which helped to build their fanbase beyond Britain. There was a hint of " second-album syndrome", they say, in having to get something out quick to capitalise on the momentum. The guests, including the Weeknd and a then-ascending Lorde, coincided with their desire to ease the pace and lean into an R&B-indebted sound. It received mixed response critically, but was commercially fruitful – as Guy noted, "It took us to fucking Madison Square Garden!" Howard said, "I've learned a lot from looking back at that record as well. Musically, there are parts of the album that I cringe at a bit. There are parts that I over-thought and tried a bit too hard to be clever with or something. For this new album, we wanted to let go a bit more."

After playing 331 live shows between 2013 and 2016, the duo took time off in 2017, "which proved a blessing for the brothers. Guy traveled for several months in Southeast Asia. Howard, meanwhile, stayed in their hometown Reigate and had taken up farming." "I'm really glad we took that time off and we did do that for mental health reasons," Guy says. "I don't think we said it or explicitly, but we were drained and we needed inspiration for life and music to be drawn from outside of the process of touring. For our first two albums, and all the EPs and singles before that, I wouldn't say they were written in a 'rush', but definitely in a very short timeframe. They say have your whole lifetime to write your first album, but we didn't have that either time – and it felt right to do that. But this time we knew we had a solid fan base to rely on and wait for us."

In December 2018, Disclosure returned with the ''Moonlight'' EP.

Concept

Disclosure said that "the thing that decided which songs made it and which songs didn't was that one word: energy. ..It's called ''Energy'', but not just because it's very upbeat and positive, it's because of the way the songs were formulated. ..The word energy for us has much more to do with the energy in the room, and that was like the 10 minutes that can make or break a song."

Development

''Energy'' was written, recorded and finished in 2019, with Disclosure producing the album. Each song was created from scratch, and "every track was written really quickly. That's why we had to write so many songs because those ones don't come up every day. Or every week. Or every month." Howard added that "morale throughout the process was pretty high".

Disclosure wanted to "write like 200 songs and pick the ten best" for ''Energy''. Thomas Smith of ''NME'' wrote the "frantic writing process defined the feel of this record. isclosure wasin the early stages of writing they had penned up to 200 songs and opted to push forward with those that came the quickest. Of the 200-strong collection they worked on, roughly 15% have been released across this album and recent accompanying EP ''Ecstasy''."

In an interview with ''Esquire'', Disclosure spoke about the album's progression: "The ones that made the cut were the ones that came around very quickly. It wasn't like, 'Oh, this one will work in the club; this one may be on the radio.' It was about having the most fun we can have in the studio, making songs when it's effortless, when something just pops up out of nowhere."

Guy said about the album's 'international' feel: "We definitely had in our minds that we needed to branch out for this record. All of mine and Howard's favorite artists that we both love rarely did the same thing twice. And Africa, with all of its incredibly diverse genres of music, was something that we hadn't really explored much. ..It felt natural to go more percussive or ''Energy''"

Howard also said, regarding working in a studio: "Our favorite way of working is we turn up with nothing and they turn up with nothing and we all make something from scratch at the same time. That way, we're all on the same page vibe-wise. If me and Guy come and sit down and Guy starts making a beat, I start playing some chords and writing the melodies with the person, it instantly allows us all to sync up."

Composition

At 43 minutes, ''Energy'' is Disclosure's second-shortest album (their shortest is ''Alchemy'', released in 2023, at 37 minutes). The standard edition album tracklist includes 11 songs. The deluxe edition album tracklist includes nine additional songs: Disclosure's five-song ''Ecstasy'' EP (originally released 28 February 2020), Khalid collaborations " Talk" and " Know Your Worth", and 2 remixes of sixth single "Birthday".

''Energy'' showcases "a diasporic sound that foregrounds the origins of a plethora