Jungle (band)

Jungle is an English modern soul musical collective founded in 2013 by Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson. Jungle has released two albums, 2014's Jungle, which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize that year, and 2018's For Ever. The group is based in London.

For other uses, see Jungle (disambiguation).

Jungle
Jungle. From left to right: Tom McFarland, George Day, Rudi Salmon, Nat Zangi, Dominic Whalley, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Fraser MacColl
Background information
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active2013–present
LabelsXL
Websitejunglejunglejungle.com
Members
  • Josh Lloyd-Watson
  • Tom McFarland
  • Fraser MacColl
  • George Day
  • Dominic Whalley
  • Rudi Salmon
  • Andro
Past members
  • Nat Zangi

Background

Jungle was founded by Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson.[1] The pair had been friends since they were nine years old, where they lived next door to each other in Shepherds Bush, London.[2] They went on to form Jungle at the beginning of 2013, choosing to put an aesthetic emphasis on the music’s surrounding artwork and videos, and not on the pairs' own identity, (McFarland and Lloyd-Watson came to be known as T and J).[3] Throughout the following year Jungle developed its nature as a collective by working with different artists across diverse disciplines. To perform the music live, Jungle expanded to a seven-piece band, fronted by J and T. The pair wished to challenge themselves, resisting the temptation to simply re-produce their music from their laptops, and instead translated their songs into a full and organic live experience. J and T have explained that Jungle stemmed from a desire for ‘honesty… true connection and friendship. It’s about being in a collective and collective energy… [a] team spirit.’ [4]

Musical career

Jungle's musical style has been described as "midtempo 1970s-style funk"[5] and their music is intermixed with "tropical percussion, wildlife noises, falsetto yelps, psychedelic washes and badoinking bass" [6] The band has a fearsome live reputation: "Jungle are a spectacular live band," say DIY.[7]

2013–2018: Jungle

Jungle released their single "The Heat" on 21 October 2013 through Chess Club Records.[8] In December 2013, Jungle were nominated for BBC's Sound of 2014 prize.[9] That year, the group played at South by Southwest in Texas in March 2014.[5] On 16 June 2014, the band played on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,[10] and played Glastonbury Festival later that month.[11]

Their debut album Jungle was released through XL Recordings on 14 July 2014. To celebrate the release, the band played a special launch party on a Peckham rooftop. The show was filmed using drones.[12] During launch week the band played live sessions on BBC Radio 1, 2 and 6 Music.

During August 2014, the band played Reading and Leeds Festivals. During September 2014, Jungle played live on Le Grand Journal (Canal+), played with Pharrell Williams at London's Roundhouse for the iTunes Festival, and played live on Later... with Jools Holland.[13]

The album "Jungle" was shortlisted for the 2014 Mercury Prize in September 2014.[14] "Busy Earnin'" was also voted in at Number 67 in the 2014 Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown in Australia.

In early 2015, it was announced that the band would perform at the Boston Calling Music Festival in May 2015.[15] On 26 June 2015, Jungle played on the Other Stage at the 2015 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. On 9 December 2017, they performed as part of the line up of Trópico, a 3 day-long music festival in Acapulco, Mexico.

Use of songs in media

Their song "Busy Earnin'" has been featured in many television shows and other media. It is present in the playlists of FIFA 15 and Forza Horizon 2 and was featured in TV productions several times, e.g. in the opening sequence and credits for the Tales from the Borderlands episode "Zer0 Sum", as a background music in a bar in Season 2 Episode 6 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as well as in a club scene in German television series Tatort (episode 916: "Der Wüstensohn"). Since the end of 2014, "Busy Earnin'" has been the title song of the German TV show Mein bester Feind.[16]

2018–Present: For Ever

On 8 May 2018, Jungle released two new singles, "House in L.A." and "Happy Man," on a 7-inch record, and on multiple digital music platforms.

On 22 September 2018, the band played their single "Heavy, California "on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and, on 11 December 2018, the band played their single "Smile" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[17][18]

Use of songs in media

On 13 September 2018, their single "Heavy, California" was used to open the Apple September event.[19] In December 2018, the band's single Platoon was used for the Peloton Digital Commercial.[20] Their single "Beat 54 (All Good Now)" was featured in football video game by EA Sports, FIFA 19. Recently during the summer of 2019, Jungle’s song, "The Heat", was played in Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew TV Commercial, 'Whoa Nitro' Starbucks. Their single "Happy Man" was also featured in a commercial by phone network O2 in 2019. It was also featured in the first season of Spanish Netflix series Elite.

Music videos

Jungle is known for their one-shot dance videos directed by Josh Lloyd-Watson, one-half of Jungle, who often works with the same dancers, choreographer, and cinematographer.[21]

Music videos for Casio, Heavy California, Cherry and the directors cut for Happy Man, were choreographed by Nat Zangi who also stars in the Happy Man. All four music videos were directed by Josh Lloyd-Watson and Charlie Di Placido, with Oliver Hadlee Pearch co-directing on Happy Man. The director of photography for all four videos was Olly Wiggins.

The dancers in Casio are Will West, Che Jones, Nathaniel Williams, Jordan Melchor, Ziggy Taylor and Mette Linturi. [22]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details Peak chart positions Sales Certifications
UK
[23]		 AUS BEL
[24]		 DEN FRA
[25]		 GER NED
[26]		 NZ SWI
[27]		 US
[28]
Jungle
  • Released: 14 July 2014
  • Label: XL
 7 20 21 28 42 43 42 34 22 84
For Ever
  • Released: 14 September 2018[31]
  • Label: XL
 10 28
[32]		 13 — — — 34 — 22 56

Singles
Single Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[23]		 UK
Indie
[33]		 BEL
[24]		 FRA
[25]		 US
Alt.
[34]
"Platoon" 2013 — — — — — Jungle
"Busy Earnin'" 2014 — 19 77 118 —
"Time" 94 — 62 163 —
"The Heat" — — 62 — —
"Happy Man" 2018 — — — — 37 For Ever
"House in LA" — — — — —
"Heavy, California"[31] — — 73 — —
"Cherry"[31] — — — — —
"Casio" 2019 — — 92 — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Remixes
Song Year Artist Title
"Unstoppable"[35] 2015 Lianne La Havas Jungle's Edit
"Stand In Your Line" 2015 Dornik Jungle's Edit

Music videos
Year Title Director
2013 "Platoon" Josh Lloyd-Watson &
Oliver Hadlee Pearch
"The Heat"
2014 "Busy Earnin'"
"Time"
2015 "Julia"
2018 "House in LA" JFC Worldwide
"Happy Man"
"Heavy, California"
"Cherry"
2019 "Casio"
"Smile"

Awards and nominations
Year Organisation Award Work Result
2014 NME Top 50 Tracks of 2014[36] "Busy Earnin'" #13
gollark: Oh, or maybe mind control.
gollark: I'm guessing, since it says "laser pointer" and distances of some kind.
gollark: Is this something stupid about... pointing lasers at aeroplanes?
gollark: If they don't, they'll talk to facts' manager.
gollark: There was a discussion about languages of some kind.

References
  1. "Jungle: A British Music Collective With Disco Beats". Here & Now. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  2. "Everything You Need To Know About Britain's Hottest Band". Esquire. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. "Interview With Jungle". Passion of the Weiss. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  4. "Interview Jungle". Pigeons and Planes. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  5. "SXSW 2014: Jungle Unmasked, Sort Of". ArtsBeat: NYTimes.com. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  6. "Everything You Need To Know About Britain's Hottest Band". Esquire. 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  7. "Jungle Shepherd's Bush Empire". DIY. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  8. "Jungle - The UK's Most Mysterious Act Finally Come Out Of The Shadows". NME. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  9. "Sound of, 2014 - Jungle". BBC. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  10. "Watch Time Live On Jimmy Kimmel". XL Recordings. 17 June 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  11. "BBC Glastonbury 2014, Acts, Jungle". BBC. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  12. "Peckham Album Launch". Jungle. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  13. "Jungle Live on Jools". bbc. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  14. "2014 Shortlist - Barclaycard Mercury Prize". Barclaycard Mercury Prize. 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  15. Ollman, Jonah. "Boston Calling Announces May 2015 Lineup". Sound of Boston. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  16. "Mein bester Feind - Alle ganzen Folgen von Mein bester Feind". Prosieben.de (in German). 2 January 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  17. Jimmy Kimmel Live (22 September 2018), Jungle - Heavy, California, retrieved 10 November 2018
  18. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (11 December 2018), Jungle Perform 'Smile', retrieved 12 December 2018
  19. Apple (13 September 2018), September Event 2018 — Apple, retrieved 10 November 2018
  20. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  21. Zadie, Mooj (12 December 2019). "The Best Music Videos of 2019". Vulture.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  22. "Jungle - Casio + Heavy, California + Cherry + Happy Man directors cut (Music Videos)". Dancentricity.com. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  23. "JUNGLE - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  24. "Discografie Jungle". Ultratop. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  25. "Jungle discography". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  26. "Discografie Jungle". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  27. "Discographie Jungle". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  28. "Jungle Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  29. "Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2014: The real winners revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  30. "BPI Certified Awards > Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  31. "Jungle announce new album 'For Ever', share new songs 'Heavy, California' and 'Cherry' – listen". NME. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  32. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  33. Peak chart positions on UK Indie Chart:
  34. "Jungle Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  35. "Unstoppable (Jungle's Edit)". liannelahavas.com. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.
  36. "Top 50 Tracks of 2014". NME. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
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