Comprised of sibling duo, Howard and Guy Lawrence, the Reigate, Surrey, UK-based production and electronic music act Disclosure have achieved an astounding level of success in a relatively quick period of time — with the 2012 release of the “Tenderly”/”Flow” single and the subsequent release of their The Face EP, the Lawrence Brothers received attention across both their native UK and the rest of the European Union. Also, that year the duo had their first UK hit, “Latch” feat. Sam Smith, which landed at #11 on the UK singles chart.
In 2013, the duo found their national and international profile growing, as they landed two, consecutive top ten singles — “White Noise” with internationally renowned act AlunaGeorge peaked at #2 and “You and Me” with Eliza Doolittle landed at #10. And the brothers followed that up with the release of their critical and commercially successful debut effort, Settle, which was nominated for a Best Dance/Electronica Album Grammy in 2014.
“Holding On” feat. Gregory Porter is a straightforward house music, club banger consisting of skittering drum programming, cascading synth stabs, swirling electronics, and Porter’s effortlessly soulful vocals singing lyrics that focus on preserving in light of great difficulty. In other words, the song balances a danceable, party track with an uplifting, positive message that will encourage the listener to keep pushing on, because in the end it does get better — or at the very least, it can’t get much worse.
Recently, the incredible Dam-Funk, whose long-awaited sophomore effort, Invite The Light will drop this week, remixed Disclosure’s “Holding On,” and Dam-Funk’s remix retains the vocal sample but pairs it with a sinuous bass line, layers of shimmering, undulating and quivering synths and percussion led by explosive flashes of cymbals. Although, Dam-Funk’s remix retains the original’s club-ready feel but pushes the song about a decade back to the club-ready, synth-based R&B of the early 80s — like the aforementioned The Whispers tracks “Rock Steady” and “It’s A Love Thing,” Rick James’ “Coldblooded” and others — while sounding as though it could be on Dam-Funk’s soon-to-be released album.