• Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Jun 4, 2013
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 31
  2. Negative: 1 out of 31
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  1. Jun 3, 2013
    100
    An album that perfectly epitomises the new wave of house music--and may even be its peak.
  2. Jun 4, 2013
    91
    The Surrey duo have not only made 2013's best dance record so far--they've also concocted one of the most assured, confident debuts from any genre in recent memory.
  3. Jun 11, 2013
    90
    Slinky enough for the club, down-tempo enough for a rooftop soiree, Settle traverses boundaries and expectations.
  4. Jun 10, 2013
    90
    Nothing on Settle is left wanting. Disclosure’s debut full-length, after a series of tight and well-curated EPs, has high points as high as any record this year.
  5. Jun 7, 2013
    90
    It’s hard to see anyone besting Settle for the title in 2013, and it’s just as hard to argue we need much more from a record than the unadulterated joy pulsing through every beat here.
  6. Jun 5, 2013
    89
    The brothers have tapped into the amorphous joy at the heart of dance music, and have peppered Settle's masterfully executed tracks with that feeling.
  7. Jun 10, 2013
    87
    It’s one of the most gleeful and replayable debuts of 2013.
  8. 83
    Fanned by an intelligent approach to production, Disclosure’s fire has started to burn, and is destined to whip itself into an inferno this year.
  9. Uncut
    Jul 10, 2013
    80
    It is raw, retro nouveau, deep house bangers like "When A Fire Starts To Burn" and "Stimulation" that make this a perfect Brit companion piece to Daft Punk's recent rebootings of disco history. [Aug 2013, p.69]
  10. Jun 20, 2013
    80
    It’s a pop record, a history lesson and--for those uninitiated in the funky UK house tradition--a gateway drug all in one.
  11. Q Magazine
    Jun 17, 2013
    80
    Settle may be a lot less rowdy than Basement Jaxx's bellwether 1999 album Remedy, but it pulls off a similarly timely coup by pulling together a number of clubland threads, imposing a keen pop sensibility and idiosyncratic vision, and riding the crest of a rising tide. [Jul 2013, p.104]
  12. Jun 10, 2013
    80
    Considering all the shrewd alliances and its polished attack, Settle seems like it was designed to be 2013's acceptable dance album. That said, any purist who denies its pleasures is a crank.
  13. 80
    Settle is a rare animal: an EDM album that actually flows like an album should. Listening to it, there's a feeling that as much thought went into the track sequencing as went into the sequenced rhythms.
  14. Jun 5, 2013
    80
    It’s not perfect--‘Grab Her’ and ‘Stimulation’ both outstay their welcome and the glitchy ‘Second Chance’ feels like it’s from a different album--but it’s a consistently thrilling debut.
  15. Jun 4, 2013
    80
    A pop album brimming with imagination, vibrant melodies and, yes, a fair bit of formula.
  16. Jun 3, 2013
    80
    It's the fact that Disclosure make bookish, aurally factual electronica sound so carefree that makes Settle such an artistic success.
  17. Jun 3, 2013
    80
    Fortunately, Settle doesn't settle; each new track finds them testing their own formulas.
  18. Jun 3, 2013
    80
    The fire will simmer out, and one day this record will sound ridiculously dated, but for the time being it is everything 2013 requires.
  19. May 31, 2013
    80
    There’s nothing very new about the sound, but there’s a freshness and intelligence in the Lawrence brothers’ discovery of it.
  20. May 31, 2013
    80
    Sometimes uniformity is no bad thing at all--when you get the formula right, that is--and Guy and Howard Lawrence prove just that on their debut LP.
  21. May 31, 2013
    80
    It's joyous pop-dance that hasn't been predicated on the belief that its target audience are morons: a rarer occurrence in the charts than it used to be, or indeed should be.
  22. 75
    It’s hard to imagine a more inviting dance record being released in 2013.
  23. 75
    Settle is a soulful, accomplished and versatile record.
  24. Jun 11, 2013
    70
    The pair's debut is a modest masterpiece of production finesse, rooted in house but borrowing from hip-hop, dubstep and other club mutations.
  25. Jun 5, 2013
    70
    Even if Settle quiets the unreasonable expectations surrounding it by offering a solid collection of smart dance tracks, some songs do not fully live up to the hype.
  26. Throughout, Settle will blind you with so much sheen you’ll want to tile your bathroom in it. Sadly, the London Grammar-featuring ‘Help Me Lose My Mind’ is a bit of an unnecessary cool-down.
  27. Jun 11, 2013
    60
    Any band that can turn over vocal duties as often as they hold onto them and somehow make all the music sound like their own is a band worth watching, and despite its inconsistency and even its lack of imagination, there are a lot of thrills to be had in this hour.
  28. 60
    It’s a shame that their debut album is so short on variety and surprises, and doesn’t capture the imagination past a couple of listens.
  29. 60
    Two of these cuts have already graced the top 10; the rest of Disclosure's debut album showcases a sound in which the echoes of two-step, UK funky and older house records recombine into a surprisingly timely and moreish soundtrack.
  30. Jun 7, 2013
    40
    The only thing Settle succeeds at is repurposing generic late 90s funky house into a sound that people seem to have been brainwashed into thinking is new and exciting.
  31. 20
    Now, it appears to have been reduced to simply a checklist of familiar sounds and effects, harnessed to the dullest beats imaginable, and dependent on outside collaborators for interest.
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 183 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 5 out of 183
  1. Mar 5, 2014
    10
    I totally hated this album when i first heard it. I didn't understand what the fuss is all about. Then it received many accolades fromI totally hated this album when i first heard it. I didn't understand what the fuss is all about. Then it received many accolades from numerous music critics, so i decided to give it a second chance.

    I started discovering a track here and a track there that were really amazing. "Latch" and "Defeated No More" made me really wanna get up and dance.

    Then i took notice of "Help Me Lose My Mind", and i fell in love with it. And finally i re listened to the entire album, and was totally captivated by it, particularly by "F For You", "Second Chance", "You & Me", and "Boiling".

    I love how the album was like a journey to me. I'm really excited for Disclosure and can't wait for their new work.
    Full Review »
  2. Jun 4, 2013
    7
    Soft synths and smooth-voiced collaborations fill this album with brilliant dance tracks. Its beats flow well and, while there are someSoft synths and smooth-voiced collaborations fill this album with brilliant dance tracks. Its beats flow well and, while there are some not-impressive-at-all tracks and a chance of boring you by its repetitive dullness, the album gets more solid with every listen. Some of the highlights here, "Latch" and "Help Me Lose My Mind", may be the right way to start this album. If you find yourself willing for more after hearing these two tracks, then you should go ahead and get this album. It's worth the money. Full Review »
  3. Mar 23, 2014
    8
    Settle is probably the electronica/dance album that I have returned to most this year. I came into the album after hearing "When a Fire StartsSettle is probably the electronica/dance album that I have returned to most this year. I came into the album after hearing "When a Fire Starts to Burn," but "Latch" and "White Noise" kept me hooked in. The softer sound and R&B vocals give the record a nostalgic feel (not that I'm old enough to actually understand what that means). The album works great when played from start to finish, but its 18 tracks do start falling into each other. Full Review »