By: Elorm Nutakor

In the event of searching for new music, I always wonder how many artists I overlook that have replay potential. With the vast number of iTunes banners I’ve seen, I can only imagine how much good music I’ve missed. On the other hand, there are a number of artists that I’ve grown to love through the process of clicking their iTunes banner & listening to snippets of their songs. Ultimately, they become regulars on my music app. This was the case with the London based Jungle, a banner that I almost overlooked.

Wikipedia describes the genre of Jungle’s music as modern soul, a genre that not even Wikipedia has a lot to say about. Jungle’s sound, though, goes beyond this two-word description. The band is reminiscent of disco and funk with an ambient flair that brings it up to speed to the current decade. Their mix of synth, horns, electric guitars, and infectious bass grooves are key elements that ground their overall sound. Jungle’s vocals are performed by its founding members, Josh Lloyd-Watson & Tom McFarland. Amidst their use of vocoders, their often harmonized falsetto vocals are the perfect medium to capture their lyrics, which range from abstract to concrete. The band incorporates traditional percussion instruments such as congas, bells, triangles, and xylophones along with their synthetic drum sounds. Finally, true to its name, Jungle utilizes subtle noises of wildlife in the backgrounds of their songs which only add to the ambient vibe that the band creates.

Jungle’s self-titled debut album is deserving of recognition and acclaim, and I’d encourage anyone in search of new music to give them a listen.

Elorm is an English major at Mizzou in his first year with KCOU. Born in Ghana and raised in Illinois, he enjoys listening to a range of different music, from popular to obscure, as well as making music productions of his own. He is also a drummer and an amateur dancer.