White Noise
by Disclosure (featuring AlunaGeorge)

Album: Settle (2013)
Charted: 2
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Disclosure's follow-up to their breakthrough single "Latch" features vocals from Aluna Francis who is one half of AlunaGeorge. The soul-influenced electronica duo first linked up with Disclosure when they supported them at their show at Brixton's Plan B in late 2012. Their mutual admiration for each other's music resulted in them collaborating on this song.
  • Francis told Digital Spy: "They asked me to do a vocal, which I was happy to do. I'm not really the person to go around doing features a lot - I have thought very carefully about whether I'm going to enjoy the time in the studio with them. Having met Disclosure, they're really fun and so it was a no-brainer."
  • Guy Lawrence explained the song's creation to Billboard magazine: "We had the session booked with Aluna and the day came around and we had just come off tour for a month or two," he said. "We had absolutely nothing to show her. I had one little bass riff and she was like 'I like that.'"
    Guy's Disclosure partner Howard Laurence and Aluna were asked to come up with a theme and lyrics, while Guy made the beat. By the end of the day, they had completed the track.
  • According to NME, Aluna Francis' lyrics were written about an argument that she'd had with a man called Pink Boy.
  • In January 2015 songwriter Katie Farrah Sopher sued Disclosure for £200,000 claiming that this track, along with "Latch" and "You & Me" used some of her lyrics. Sopher alleged that the lines were taken from her personal songbook, which was stolen by her ex-boyfriend Sean Sawyers and sold on to music industry contacts. Disclosure denied the allegations.
  • Aluna Francis was anxious about the collaboration, but the Disclosure pair put her at ease. "I was very scared when Guy picked me up in a car in South London, but he said, 'Don't worry, we've got a singer, we've got tracks, it'll be fine,'" she recalled during a Reddit AMA.

    "Howard brought the sandwiches and we sat in their loft studio and got straight to work. It was unusually quick and really good fun."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.