Monday 8 December 2014

Albums of the Year 2014 #15 Jungle - Jungle


This year’s Mercury Prize list was pretty good all in all wasn’t it? Certainly far better than the two previous years. One LP that made the shortlist and that opens Breaking More Waves fifteen albums of 2015 posts is the debut record by Jungle

Having started out as one of the UK’s buzziest bands (yes, we got in on the act naming them as Ones To Watch for 2014 here) with a series of visually compelling videos and a sense of mystery about them, ex Born Blonde members Tom McFarland and Joshua Lloyd-Watson, together with a bunch of recruits for live shows, delivered an album that whilst very singular in its vision, worked very well. 

Let’s face it, if you’ve just got one idea, make it a bloody good one. 

Jungle’s debut album is all about electronic soul, funk, grooves, falsetto vocals and a swaggering pop sensibility that ties it all together. It’s a record to play (and believe us we’ve tried it) pumping out of your car stereo on a hot city night, head bobbing, with the windows wound right down so everyone around can hear. The sound of Jungle’s debut isn’t that of lush vegetation and wildlife but the inner city concrete one. It’s a sound that helped define our summer of 2014, bringing the heat to our ears. It therefore finds itself in 15th place on our end of year countdown.

Jungle - Time

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