New EP release Ecstasy by Disclosure ticks all the boxes for a lively, upbeat house album. The tunes contain driving beats and chord progressions, the title track being a prime example of this. There are lots of elements of Disclosure’s go-to two-step and garage band besides other classic house tropes such as the soulful ‘Ecstasy’ vocal sample.
‘Tondo’ has a catchy drumbeat driving forwards an afro-funk vocal sample giving a groovy, danceable feel, an interesting twist on your standard house tune.
Contrasting slightly to this ‘Expressing What Matters’ is much more of a classic house style with an upbeat bass line and good use of horns later in the track making for an all-round good cut.
‘Etran’ returns to African samples with a collective vocal feel, collectivity typical in African music. With a strong beat this is certainly a decent cut though I’d argue it does not have the strongest groove of the tracks, though it is a nice change of pace.
A funky finale, ‘Get Close’ returns to your classic house style the low pitch vocal sample ‘I just want to get close’ repeated until the end of song. A strong beat and well-used synthesizers borderline the song to ambient music in the last minute.
All round, a tight, well edited album fulfilling its purpose. One critique over most of the songs is a lack of variation though this can of course be common in the genre. I would rate this almost 90’s style house album and 8/10 based on the fact I'm eager to hear a new release from Disclosure.