By Geoffrey Rowlands

 
“It’s amazing to have an entire audience sing Latch back to us,” smiled Guy Lawrence, 21, the older of the two brothers who make up English dance music duo Disclosure. “We’ve come so far during the past year. If anyone had told us twelve months ago that we’d have this kind of response to our top 20 single, we’d have thought they were mad.”
“We couldn’t even have imagined getting a Top 20 single,” added Howard Lawrence. “We were starting to make our name on the London dance music scene. But here we are now just back from touring New Zealand and Australia, with tours of Europe and North America also under our belts. The last year has been unbelievable.”
Their chart success with Latch, which also features British vocalist Sam Smith, came less than three years after the boys were making music in their bedrooms.
“We just remixed tracks or created our own songs from samples,” Guy explained. “We still do these things to some extent. The difference now is we get paid for remixing tunes for other artists and we’re not using anything like so many samples in our own work. Most of our new material is original stuff written by ourselves.”
Disclosure’s debut single, Offline Dexterity, appeared in 2010.
The following year saw the release of a double A-side, Carnival/I Love...That You Know.
These two tracks, plus Blue You, Just Your Type and My Intention Is War!, were offered as a free EP to those who clicked the ‘like’ icon on their Facebook page. Over 100,000 ‘likes’ have now been registered.
Another double A-side single, Tenderly,/Flow, and a second EP, The Face, further enhanced their reputation before Latch saw Disclosure explode on to the mainstream chart scene.
“Somebody suggested Latch was a pop record rather than a dance tune,” recalled Howard, who is barely old enough to vote. “This was news to us. We made the song in exactly the same way as all our other music. We liked the tune and thought our friends would like it, that’s how all our songs have come about.”
“It’s a dance tune which just caught the imagination of a wider audience,” Guy added. “We have to thank the British radio industry, particularly Radio One and Radio One Xtra, for all their support.
Our other releases were played on dance music shows but Latch was played across the spectrum of dance and pop shows.”
The duo’s debut album is expected to be released some time in April or May. “Most of it is already done in terms of songwriting,” Howard stated. “We’ve blocked off a lot of time in February and March when we hope to get it finished.”
After plucking several artists from obscurity to provide vocals for their tracks, fans may be surprised to hear Howard singing on the album. “I’ve started singing during our gigs,” he remarked. “It’s part of our progression as artists. Creating our own music rather than using samples is matched by me singing rather than having guest vocalists.”
“Howard won’t take over the whole show,” Guy laughed. “Our new songs have been written with Howard in mind for the vocals but we’ll still be using some guest singers. It’s just a case of putting more of the focus and responsibility on ourselves.”


Kylie Minogue to focus on acting
 
2012 saw Kylie Minogue celebrate 25 years in the music business.
This was culminated in the release last October of a compilation album, The Abbey Road Sessions. Apart from one new song, Flower, the album contained reworked orchestral accompaniment versions of her hit singles.
During publicity interviews, Kylie said she was already working on her next album of new material which would probably be released towards the end of 2013.
Now comes news that she has fired Terry Blamey, her long-term manager and the man who has guided her through the musical minefield. Word is that she intends to give up music, at least for the time being, in order to concentrate on her acting career.
Yet music has never seemed to impose on Kylie’s acting. She can currently be seen in the fantasy film drama, Holy Motors, and will soon be co-starring with Gemma Arterton in the musical comedy, Walking on Sunshine.
 
 
New album from Justin Timberlake
 
Justin Timberlake will be releasing his third solo album, The 20/20 Experience, later this year. Having concentrated much more on acting in recent times, the album represents his first new material since 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds. No specific release date for the album has been mentioned but lead single, Suit and Tie, is available to hear and download now.
Indeed, it hit the No.1 spot in 12 countries just ten hours after the download was made available.
Produced by Timbaland and featuring a guest appearance by rap superstar Jay-Z, Suit and Tie can be heard at (no www.) countdown.justintimberlake.com/. A download link is also here along with an open letter from Justin which outlines the process through which his new album came together.
 
Destiny’s Child, reunite, release single
 
Destiny’s Child are also back with a new single.
The trio of Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have reunited to record Nuclear under the production guidance of Pharrell Williams. It is the only new recording on the group’s third compilation album, Love Songs, which will be released on January 29.
While Justin Timberlake’s new song has been enthusiastically embraced, the response to Nuclear from Destiny’s Child fans is of a rather more lukewarm nature. Most comments suggest it’s not bad for an album track but nowhere near strong enough for a single.
If you would like to judge for yourself, the song is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO1wustv4b8.
 
Collaborators welcome
 
How would you like to be part of a collaborative charity track with Swedish DJ/producer Avicii? Real name Tim Bergling, Avicii is inviting everyone to create and submit the beats and sounds which will make up his next single.
Anything is welcome from complete basslines to just the sound of a handclap so even those with no musical ability could still get involved.
The project will be ongoing until February 13 with different parts of the song being developed on a weekly basis. Details are available at www.avicii.com while submissions can be made and the creative process followed at www.aviciixyou.com/.
Proceeds from the finished song, which should be released on February 26, will be donated to the House for Hunger charity foundation.
 
Converse Rubber Tracks
 
More free music is available from the Converse athletic shoe people. Artists are able to record songs free of charge at the Converse Rubber Tracks studio in New York. Some of their work is then made available for free download to those who visit the Converse Facebook website.
Check out the music at www.facebook.com/converse by clicking on Rubber Tracks. Work by 30 different artists is currently available to hear. I Am Lightyear, Desert Sharks, Bodega Girls and The Vandelles are just a few of these. The majority are largely unknown but this doesn’t mean they don’t make some great songs.