- DAN WILTON
- Jungle thinks Seattle “feels English.”
You like R&B? You like electro, soul, and/or funk? Then you’ll find Jungle’s amalgam rousing. What began in 2013 as the London-based duo of Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland has sprouted to a seven-piece band that lays down well-trimmed mid-tempo grooves. Much dance and sweat begets the bodies of a room when they play. It’s Marvin Gaye spliced into the Toro y Moi/tropicality sector, then routed with horns through an oxygen-rich Leslie cabinet and a wah-wah pedal. Their electronic beats and acoustic drums are a well-mixed, well-meshed technoid blend. “Platoon” rides anesthetized on tamped 16th-note beams. In the video, a 6-year-old b-girl named Terra absolutely feels it in a lilac sweatsuit. (Note her head spins; she’s boss.) Jungle’s self-titled 12-song debut came out this past July on XL Recordings and was shortlisted for the 2014 Mercury Prize. Tom McFarland spoke from New Orleans. I imagined him in a lilac sweatsuit.
What’s happening in New Orleans for Jungle? Quality time is happening. We’re trying to have a Louisiana experience. I had shrimp and grits for breakfast.
Do they have grits in London? Give me the Jungle review of grits. No. Grits are a rare thing. Grits are strange, but worth it [laughs]. I like grits. I can see why there’s a love/hate thing about them. Gems in life are often love/hate items…
Jungle play the Showbox Wednesday, October 15. Click here for more information.
