Photo credit: Charlie Di Placido
Today, Jungle announce news of the follow-up to that defining debut record. The album is titled For Ever and will be released on 14th September via XL Recordings / Rhythmethod. If Jungle’s first album was their imaginary soundtrack to the places they had never been, For Ever is inspired by real life experiences of the places they’d dreamed of for so long.
To coincide with news of their new album, Jungle today release two new songs from the record: ‘Heavy, California’ and ‘Cherry’. Both songs are available now via all digital services and are accompanied by two videos directed by Josh Lloyd-Watson & Charlie Di Placido for the JFC collective, available exclusively via Spotify and Apple Music respectively. They’re set to build on the success of ‘Happy Man’and ‘House In LA’, the first tracks to be revealed from the album in May.
In July 2014, Jungle released their self-titled debut album. Featuring the singles ‘Platoon’, ‘Busy Earnin’’, ‘Time’, ‘The Heat’ and ‘Julia’, all neo-soul classics, it was the aspirational sound of young London, a soundtrack of escapism, an unmistakable Jungle sound and a unique, vivid, visual Jungle world. The whole thing was dreamed up by Josh “J” Lloyd-Watson and Tom “T” McFarland, a production and multi-instrumentalist duo who never expected to leave their bedroom studios, far less become the core of a talent-filled seven-strong collective that morphed into a killer live outfit. Cue online word-of-mouth and IRL buzz, rave reviews, a Mercury Music Prize nomination, songs of the summer (two summers, even), viral videos, Noel Gallagher declaring the album “fucking amazing”, half a million sales, burgeoning DJ careers, a global tour that lasted two solid years. It all just happened.
Swapping Shepherds Bush for the Hollywood Hills, J and T set up camp in Los Angeles to write and record the album. Over time however, their romanticisation of The Californian Dream clashed with the reality of actually living it, the feeling of being adrift on the West Coast compounded by the collapse of long-term relationships. Returning home to London, they teamed up with highly regarded young producer Inflo where they sought to create a “post-apocalyptic radio station playing break up songs”, whittling down loads of ideas this concept spawned into the core 13 tracks you have before you. That station and those songs and that journey are the sound of Jungle’s second album For Ever. They had to go away to come home. And what J and T lost in love, they gained in music. For Ever is for real, deeper and higher, more intimate and more expansive, feel good and, just occasionally, feel bad. It is, then, a proper second album.
