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With ENERGY imminently approaching, Disclosure have shared the final single, “Birthday,” from their forthcoming LP, which will be their first in five years. The last pre-album preview sees featured artists Kehlani and Syd deliver a soothing R&B performance about a love lost. It’s a stark contrast to the high energy of preceding singles “ENERGY,” “My High,” and “Douha (Mali Mali),” but a welcome indicator of ENERGY‘s presumable stylistic diversity.
On August 26, Howard and Guy Lawrence made a guest appearance on episode five of the The Zane Lowe Show to discuss the making of “Birthday.” Howard recalled the unexpected pathway to Kehlani’s involvement on the record, stating,
“We wrote the song with Syd originally, and we were definitely going on that Brandy, Monica, and Aaliyah vibe; that was just how we were all feeling that day. And then we decided halfway through writing it, we were like, ‘You know what, this would actually be great as a duet. So who should we get on it?’ And she was like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I’ll just get Kehlani.’ We were like, yeah, that’s fine. But also, people say that stuff a lot in sessions and it never happens. So we just went like, yeah, sure, thinking that’s not going to happen. And then two weeks later, it was just in the inbox.”
In addition to “Birthday,” which arrives in tandem with a “Disclosure VIP Remix,” Disclosure have shared a teaser for a Minecraft experience to accompany ENERGY‘s release on August 28. Created with Island Records and design collective, Blockworks, the map made of more than 100 million blocks contains loads of hidden gems, including three underground clubs, hidden tracks players can search for (including eight-bit remixes of Disclosure favorites), and a Disclosure mega-mix that scores the experience. The server will be live for one-week, after which players can download the ENERGY album cover-inspired map.
Featured image: Marko Edge
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