We’ve always tried to create something that’s not about us, reveal Jungle ahead of new album Volcano
“WE spent the first album being self-conscious, the second was too personal but the third and especially this new album, we’ve thrown off the shackles and we’re enjoying it.”
Tom McFarland, one half of UK production duo Jungle, is describing how fourth studio album Volcano is them taking back control and doing things their way.
I’m at Jungle’s management office in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, not far from where childhood friends McFarland and partner J Lloyd grew up.
McFarland says: “We fundamentally have a core belief in our own taste. As long as we’re satisfying ourselves, we know that other people are going to like it too.
“We understand the importance of making music that is going to be fun for us to perform on a day-to-day basis for many weeks and months.”
A day later I chat to Lloyd via video call in LA where he is about to start a DJ tour.
“As you get older, you sort of don’t really care as much,” says Lloyd. “You stop caring what people think. And that sets you free in terms of what music you can make.
“If we react to it in that moment, then that’s the measuring stick — and then fans are going to react too.”
Volcano is a new sound for Jungle and sees the electronic duo collaborating more than they have done before with their roles as producers more central than ever.
McFarland laughs: “We spent three albums singing so we wanted to make an album where we’re not.
“It means we can just chill out more before the live shows with less vocal warm-up.”
Lloyd adds: “The videos have never been about us either — we’ve always made accompanying dance videos as a collection of work.
“We’ve just released a unique, interactive video for Back On 74. It’s made with AI art and fans can click on the art gallery in the video and the art changes.
“It’s not been done before. So we will be keen to see how that goes down.”
McFarland explains: “Essentially, we are directors and producers. We are behind the desk and behind the camera, but never front and centre.
“We’re not the performers — we’re not Elvis and we’re never going to be stars.
“We always wanted to just make music and playing live meant that we had to occupy a certain space, which was sometimes uncomfortable.
“This album is, ‘F**k you. I’m not going to stand there on stage. I’m going to stand at the back and direct it’.
“We see ourselves as electronic conductors like Air, Daft Punk and Zero 7. I can shake my hips around with my hands in the air but I’d much rather be at the back, behind a synthesiser.”
When Jungle first emerged nearly a decade ago with their self-titled album, Lloyd and McFarland — known as J and T — kept a mysterious profile.
Today they still have no desire to be famous.
McFarland says: “It’s nice when people come up to us after gigs or at festivals but outside of that environment, we are just normal.
“You won’t catch us blogging about our breakfast on social media. I don’t like celebrities. That’s why musicians like Matt Healy (The 1975) become a bit of a w****r and says the stuff he says. He’s bored of it all. All we care about is the music and the rest of it ‘no thanks’.”
McFarland says Coming Back, Holding On and You Ain’t No Celebrity are the songs on Volcano that represent how far Jungle have progressed.
“They have attitude and style,” he explains. “It shows how we’ve started to occupy a much more electronic DJ producer space, a space that we felt a little bit shy about at first.
Relinquished control
“We felt like we were stepping into someone else’s world because we didn’t know who Jungle were.
“Are we a guitar band? Are we a sh*t indie soul band?
“The more we understand who we are and how we make music and why we make music, the better we get.
“We’re in a place now where we are confident and don’t really give a shit about other people’s opinions. We’re in a place creatively where it’s almost like a philosophy.”
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Kitto is now part of the Jungle collective and her arrival has given the duo an innovation.
“Lydia had toured with us in her old band Club Kuru and we poached her,” smiles McFarland.
“She came on tour with us for the third record and was an amazing person to have in the studio, she was overflowing with creativity. Her voice is so dynamic, and she can set the tone.
“It’s been interesting working with her on Volcano and it allowed us to relinquish a bit of control.
“We grew up listening to Massive Attack, Groove Armada and The Chemical Brothers — that collaborative music-making really shaped us.”
Lloyd agrees: “Collaborations come about in weird ways. We met Bas (who appears on album closer Pretty Little Thing) backstage at a festival in New York and we had worked with Roots Manuva a while ago and that session was lying around.
“He’d come in and recorded this stream of consciousness on another track which we used on You Ain’t No Celebrity.
“We’re massive fans of Roots and (track) Witness The Fitness, and that whole record, (2001’s Run Come Save Me) was pretty seminal when we were growing up. He’s a lovely, lovely man.”
Other album guests include Channel Tres on I’ve Been In Love and Erick the Architect on Candle Flame.
A lot of Volcano was written during and after the band came off the road in LA and at their local studio Metropolis in West London — which worked perfectly for dad-of-two McFarland. He says: “I was two weeks into being a new dad again. So it was like three hours sleep and ten hours in the studio then back home for dinner and bedtime.
“It was a blessing to have those spaces close by. Back On 74, Candle Flame, Us Against The World, they were the tracks that shaped the album.
“Our ethos was to do it quickly, don’t think about it and just try to capture ideas in their most purest form without diluting or over-editing things.”
McFarland says: “We’ve been DJing a lot and spending a lot more time in clubs so club culture has become much more part of our language than it’s ever been.
“I used to party my t*ts off when I was younger, but with Jungle you play all these gigs and don’t go to other gigs as you don’t have the energy to go out any more and lose a part of yourself within that.
“So, with the DJing, it feels like we’re sort of rewinding the clock a little bit and sort of reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that grew up going to Justice and Daft Punk gigs.”
Straight into chaos
McFarland cites Jamie xx, Overmono and Anish Kumar as names who are making great electronic music today.
He says: “There’s a resurgence in euphoric dance music now, which is really good.
“I used to go to drum and bass raves when I was a kid and I’ve stumbled out of Fabric at 6am many times.
“Dance music and clubs are a huge part of British music and culture and long may it continue.”
The decision for their album name came after Lloyd watched a documentary.
“I was in bed watching something on Netflix about a volcano — that was it,” smiles Lloyd.
“It’s a really good instant visual representation of what the album is to us,” adds McFarland.
“It’s explosive, it’s energetic and it feels very natural to us. It’s a good image — fiery, lava.”
Gorillaz have been a big influence on Jungle and they got to support them last year on some American dates.
Lloyd says: “Gorillaz are a massive inspiration so watching how the whole (virtual) thing works was special. We’ve always tried to create something that is not about us, like Gorillaz.
“And with Blur, Damon (Albarn) has just played those shows at Wembley Stadium. I can’t think of anyone else who can headline festivals worldwide with two of his bands.”
And former Oasis star Noel Gallagher has been a huge fan of Jungle in the past.
McFarland says: “He’s been a big supporter of us for a long time and I’ve had a lot of conversations with him, he’s great.
“I’d really love for Oasis to sort their sh*t out.
“Imagine when Noel and Liam do finally get back together and put the tickets on sale, those ticket sites are going to explode.”
Jungle will headline London festival All Points East at the end of the month — their only UK show — before they play across the US and Europe for the rest of the year.
“It’s basically going to be an hour and a half of nonstop energy,” smiles McFarland. “People aren’t going to know what’s hit them. The new live show reflects what we’ve been doing DJ-wise and the whole thing feels quite continuous.
“We have huge ambitions for our live show but it’s challenging with costs. We’d love to headline The Other Stage at Glastonbury in the future and bring 20 dancers.”
Lloyd adds: “The Strokes and Stormzy are also headlining this year (at All Points East) so to be alongside those sorts of names is amazing for us.
“It feels like a massive achievement. It will be our first show so straight into the chaos. It’s going to be a great night.”
McFarland adds: “We’ve always tried to create this alternative reality that Jungle sits in and invite people into and turn off reality for a second.
“That’s what our live shows and music is about. And this beautiful little journey isn’t showing any signs yet of abating yet.”
- The album Volcano is out on August 11 and Jungle headline All Points East, in London, on August 26. Go to all allpointseastfestival.com for more info.