One of the best pop songs of 2012 was Disclosure’s “Latch,” a throwback house track flavored with some of the smoothed-out funk of turn-of-the-millennium UK two-step and a synth part that salvages the last little bit of class that the dubstep wobble bass had left in it. Plus it was topped by a gorgeous part by guest vocalist Sam Smith that nails the 90s club-R&B vibe they were going for with almost frightening exactitude. Released in the UK in the fall of that year, it took care of most of the groundwork for transforming Disclosure from underground dance-music heroes into full-on pop stars overseas—their 2013 debut, Settle, which includes “Latch,” just went platinum in Britain.
