Jungle is back with their new single ‘Candle Flame‘, and they’ve revealed details about their fourth album ‘Volcano‘. Watch the video for the new track below, along with our conversation with one half of the duo.
The funk and soul/dance group – consisting of J Lloyd and Tom McFarland – released their third album ‘Loving In Stereo‘ back in 2021. The following year, the duo returned with two new tracks – ‘Good Times‘ and ‘Problemz‘ – and shared that they had started working on their next album.
The first glimpse of the LP is offered with ‘Candle Flame‘ – showcasing Jungle’s signature energy against a backdrop of disco and soul, accompanied by the unique rhymes of Erick The Architect. “I think the single is amazing, and it’s one of the best things we’ve ever made,” Jungle’s J Lloyd told NME. “You get a taste of the more subtle approach or the more aggressive approach, and I’d love to just drop the whole thing so everyone can hear that in context.”
Regarding the collaboration with Erick The Architect, J Lloyd said: “He’s a friend of ours. We were looking for a feature, and Lydia [Kitto], a close collaborator of the band, had his number. We sent him the track, and he sent it back so quickly. He’s a really lovely guy and just someone who’s very quick and fluid. He brought a whole new sort of rhythm to it.
“I think we’d always had an idea for a rapped verse, or more of a narrative verse, but he just brought this pace to it, almost like early Snoop Dogg or something. It was really exciting to hear.”
The accompanying music video sees Jungle once again featuring the dancers who have become central characters in the overall storyline of their videos. “Without giving it all away, we wrote a script for this one,” J Lloyd explained. “We did a whole bunch of videos for the last record, but we were just learning in the process, and with this one, we’ve got an actual script and we’re telling the story essentially of Will West, who’s the star of ‘Casio‘ who disappeared for a while in the last season, ‘Loving in Stereo‘.” Although ‘Candle Flame‘ is the first single, it’s not the official first taste of the album, as last year’s ‘Problemz‘ has made it onto the tracklist. Its twin single ‘Good Times‘, however, has been left off, which J Lloyd told NME was intentional.
“I think the songs on this new record just started to develop in a way that left [‘Good Times‘] behind. It was almost like that was a beta version of what this new sound is. We tried to put it in there a few times, and it just didn’t feel right, whereas ‘Problemz‘ did feel right.”
The album was created from a variety of sessions, with Jungle accepting contributions from various voices and previous recordings. In addition to Erick The Architect, ‘Volcano‘ features guest appearances from Bas, Roots Manuva, Channel Tres, and JNR Williams.
Speaking about this collage-like approach, J Lloyd said that it “added to this remixed vibe of the album that was making it feel so free”. For instance, they collaborated with Channel Tres on a song previously, from which they ended up using the vocals for the ‘Volcano‘ track ‘I’ve Been In Love‘.
“You’re just creating on one thing, and then jamming it together with another,” J Lloyd said.