Latch

Album: Settle (2012)
Charted: 11 7
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Disclosure is a Garage-House duo formed by brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence. The siblings grew up in Croydon, Surrey raised by musical parents and they first came to many people's attention when their EP, The Face, was released on June 1, 2012 to critical acclaim. During that summer the Lawrence's remix of Jessie Ware's track "Running" racked up more than a million plays across YouTube and SoundCloud, whilst their appearances at various festivals also gained Disclosure many new fans.
  • After Annie Mac debuted this song on her Radio 1 show, it amassed 150,000 plays on Disclosure's Soundcloud page in less than a week. It went on to become their first hit on the UK singles chart, when it was released on October 8, 2012.
  • The song originated from an idea Disclosure had to write a song in a different time signature to other dance tunes. Guy Lawrence explained to Spin magazine: "We just wanted to make a song in 6/8, in that time signature. You know, the swung, triplet-y kind of sound. There's hardly any other timing in dance music than 4/4, and all we wanted to do is just make a track in 6/8. That's how it started."
  • The chill house track features warm vocals from newcomer Sam Smith. The brothers hooked up with him through their manager. Guy recalled to Spin: "We had the track done already, we had samples all over it—it was a Zed Bias sample, actually—and then we got him in and we just stripped them all off. He [Smith] killed it. He wrote all the vocals in a day. It was amazing."
  • The Lawrence brothers wrote the song with London-based songwriter and producer James Napier, who goes by the moniker Jimmy Napes. He also contributed to the creation of their singles "White Noise" and "You & Me." Napes first met the Disclosure pair at his studio for what wound up as the session for this song. "I found myself digging out dusty vinyl of old-school garage records," he told Billboard magazine. "Their music caught my attention because it appealed to my love for house and garage while sounding completely refreshing and very much their own."
  • Despite several dance-music critics describing their sound as Deep House, the Disclosure duo feel their material is more Pop orientated with House elements. "Most of the stuff we do is just pop songs written in the production-style of House, not necessarily Deep House," said Guy Lawrence to MTV News.

    His brother, Howard added, "Deep House is like very simple, just straight 4/4 kicks, very simple drums, deep jazz chords, simple basslines, simple samples... and I love it. Deep House is like one of our favorite things to listen to, [we] like to collect a lot of Deep House records. But there is no way that a song like 'Latch' can be described as Deep House."
  • Sam Smith recorded an acoustic version of this song, which is included on his Nirvana EP. He explained why to Interview magazine: "The beat that Disclosure made is just unbelievable, and when you listen to that version it make you want to dance; it makes you want to go crazy, and it's euphoric," he said. "Whereas I feel like the acoustic version tells the other story of the song, and that is a beautiful love song. It shows the sentimental side, which sometimes doesn't cut through when there's a massive beat behind the track."
  • The song helped earn Sam Smith a label deal. London Records' Nick Raphael recalled to Billboard magazine: "I remember hearing 'Latch' and thinking, 'No person can go through that many vocal ranges at one time without going through a computer.'"
  • Sam Smith was working at a bar when he recorded this song. He explained to Entertainment Weekly: "You could hear it in my voice that I wanted to be doing something else. There's a real hunger behind that song."
  • The Lawrences heard Smith's gorgeous falsetto vocals before meeting the singer. "We were amazed he wasn't a girl," Guy admitted to Billboard magazine.
  • Songwriter Katie Farrah Sopher claimed to have written the lyrics to this song as well as "White Noise," and "You & Me." She alleged that the words for the three tracks as well as AlunaGeorge's "Attracting Flies" were taken from her songbook, which was stolen by an ex-boyfriend, Sean Sawyers, in 2009.

    According to Sopher the four songs were inspired by the abuse she endured during her five-year relationship with Sawyers, who then passed the songbook on to music industry contacts. She claimed £200,000 damages, but Sawyers denied all the allegations.

    Disclosure refuted Sopher's claims via a post on their Facebook page: "We want to make it very clear that every Disclosure song we have put our names to has been written by us," they wrote. "We sometimes write lyrics and melodies alongside whoever the featured singer may be (ie Sam, Eliza etc) and the great Mr Jimmy Napes, but that is it."

    "When we do, we always make sure everyone gets proper credit. We take great pride in our self sufficiency, our work and the way we work, and it's incredibly frustrating when someone tries to take that away from us, by claiming we stole even one word or one note of our music from anyone."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Danny Clinch: The Art of Rock Photography

Danny Clinch: The Art of Rock PhotographySong Writing

One of rock's top photographers talks about artistry in photography, raising funds for a documentary, and enjoying a County Fair with Tom Waits.

Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Mark Arm of MudhoneySongwriter Interviews

When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."

Lecrae

LecraeSongwriter Interviews

The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.

Glen Ballard

Glen BallardSongwriter Interviews

Glen Ballard talks about co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album, and his work with Dave Matthews, Aerosmith and Annie Lennox.

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The Devil

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The DevilSong Writing

Just how much did these monsters of rock dabble in the occult?