Disclosure – “Magnets” ft. Lorde (Singles Going Steady)

Evan Sawdey: “Let’s embrace the point of no return.” Yeah, let’s do exactly that. While the pairing of Disclosure and Lorde (for an original song, finally) is nothing less than an electro-pop wet dream come into fruition, “Magnets” doesn’t amaze so much as it simply satisfies, its chorus and verse swinging and bouncing while maintaining a solid groove that you already know will be stretched out to seven minutes or more on an endless stream of remixes. As it stands though, everything, from Lorde’s growing vocal confidence to her appropriately insane dancing in the video, is a welcome treat from two great modern pop icons. Yeah, some were expecting more, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with what we ended up getting. [7/10]

Timothy Gabriele: Disclosure seems to be designed by and/or for people who have no idea that dance music can be a million times better than Disclosure, people who reject the narrative that they need to dive deep to get to the good stuff, who have deified the deejay at the expense of the single and the anonymity of the club, and who can’t comprehend this “new” 30-year-old techno thing without the context of a cavalcade of celebrity endorsements. In that sense, this is a roaring success. It’s hard to hate, shameful to love, difficult to feel one way or another towards. [3/10]

Dustin Ragucos: I’m not going to promise that I’ll embrace the point of no return, but when Lorde stabs right into that pre-chorus, there’s always a little shove inching listeners to her dreamy abyss. [6/10]

John Garratt: “Pretty girls don’t know the things that I know”… it’s like no one is even trying anymore. Also, I’m sure it’s a felony in some parts of the world to push someone into the water and light the pool on fire. Even Randy Marsh isn’t that rash. [2/10]

Kevin Korber: Okay, this is fine. Lorde sounds good, and the mix of techno-pop and R&B works better than it should. But can Disclosure please do something — anything — that isn’t a near-exact facsimile of club tracks from 10 to 15 years ago? [5/10]