By: Cameron Tyo
Oct 1, 2023
The Start of the Volcano:
Volcano is recently the fourth studio album to be released by the British band Jungle, previously following Jungle, For Ever, and Loving in Stereo. The first song from Jungle that really got me into the band was “Beat 54 (All Good Now)“; its funky combination of strings and synths and the overall crisp vintage production of their songs, all with soulful influences, is what led me to delve deeper into the rest of Jungle’s discography. I was quite honestly pretty late in listening to the whole entire album of Volcano. With the release of the album being August 11, 2023, I was just leaving my job to get ready for college. After that, getting back into the swing of the college lifestyle and homework put a pause on really focusing on listening to the album. I’ve read many times how Volcano is considered the worst of the albums due to the so-called monotonous styling of the voices and overall quality in the song, and due to the fact that the funk is much slower, the soundtrack facing themes mainly of love or remembrance. This thinking also contributes to the fact that most of the songs are of a two-chord progression, which is known in nature to be monotonous and boring if nothing exciting or unexpected is added to the music. However, I feel this is one of Jungle’s best albums, dare I say the best. There are honestly three of my favorite Jungle songs included in this album, which is the main reason I think this album is one of the best. Those three are “Candle Flame,” “I’ve Been in Love,” and “Back on 74”. Another reason why many agree this album is one of the worst is just the fact that lots of the songs kind of sound the same in nature; I just happened to be a sucker for the style of singing in these songs, focusing a lot on mid-tempo RnB groove.
That Lava-Rushing Feeling of Dance and Heart-Break:
“Candle Flame” is the lead single of the album and was one of the first singles to be released to advertise the upcoming album. The first thing I thought when listening to it was, “Man, this gives real “Sacrifice” vibes from The Weeknd. Not only is that one of my favorite songs from him, but the chorus really does. The whole song deals with the ups and downs of a relationship in a very authentic and poetic way. The song switches from Erik the Architect’s rapping to the very sonic-sounding and raspy voices of Tom McFarland and Josh-Lloyd Watson, giving a sense of vulnerability and heart-brokenness throughout the song. The simple repeated guitar melody makes the overall song a very danceable tune, which I believe a lot of the songs do. “I’ve Been in Love“ is one of the songs in the album that feels much like the other Jungle albums. The whole song kind of has a seductive nature to it, and Chanel Tres’s baritone vocals only help to amplify that mood in the song. Just like the other songs in the album being mentioned, perhaps with the exception of “Candle Flame,” which has a three-chord progression, this is one of many with a two-chord. The A minor key and four beats per measure are the main factors that create such a seductive yet danceable tune. It also has a repetitive nature because of this, which I immensely enjoy in songs. Now, the lyrics for the rap portion, I feel, could be written a little better; from what I can hear, the lyrics sound super generic.
The final song that I enjoyed the most and what is probably the most recognizable after becoming a TikTok trend is “Back on 74.” This song is much more upbeat than the last two songs mentioned, having sort of a bossa-nova feel to it. It also heavily features the voice of Lydia Kitto, whose voice has a lovely tone of falsetto-based soul, making the song about remembrance way more danceable than it needs to be. This song is arguably the most danceable track without trying to be. I say this as you have songs such as “Holding On,” which gives major house music you’d hear at a club produced to be danced to with fast drum break beats digitally produced to sound like synths and very minimal singing. Another song from the album that I really enjoyed was Problemz, which was a single released alongside another called Good Times in 2022. I like the change in the song from a sweet melody to Italian-disco-style music very quickly. Two other songs I really did think were enjoyable were “Every Night,” which gave a tropical vibe with bongos playing a tropical riff and baseline. It quite honestly had a bit of resemblance to the music of the beach levels in the video game Crash Bandicoot. Finally, we have “Dominoes.” The oohs and aahs that are underplayed throughout the melody of the song work against the soulful-sounding voices of Tom and Josh, and the guitar riff uniquely gives a summer vibe.
While not particular about the album itself, the many music videos released with the songs have been super enjoyable to watch, and Shay Latukolan has masterfully choreographed each to portray the lyrics in such an intriguing and visually appealing way. The fact that it seems the dance is written more so first for the song’s beat structure rather than the lyrics’ mood lets the dance moves become smooth. Some noticeable stand-out dancing performances were that of Will West and Mette Linturi. One thing I did see as a problem with the album was that compared to other albums, the lyrics were very difficult to hear or understand. Often, I had the lyrics up on Spotify, in which I listened to the album. Only partially couldn’t I hear the lyrics in other albums. This could be potentially due to the fact that due to the electronic nature of the dance tunes, the voices and how they were produced in the studio became more raspy and drowned out than expected. As mentioned before, I thought that the lyrics were a bit boring, but I never thought that the lyrics of any of Jungle’s albums were super extraordinary in the first place. Going back to the rest of the songs in the album, I felt they showed the progressiveness and route that Jungle might possibly be going for their next album, with lyrics containing that of remembrance or love in some sort of way, either the problems or feelings of happiness.
Aftermath of the Volcanic Eruption:
Overall, I really did enjoy Volcano despite people’s views on the music being repetitious and, therefore, monotonous. I felt because of the type of songs being produced, that being dance tunes in the form of love ballads, I was really able to get into them. This album obviously wasn’t versatile in mood like other albums, but I feel not every album has to be. Honestly, keeping consistent sound quality and good music is what matters to me. My motto is if the music is repetitious, the harmonies and melody should be catchy, which was the case here. Jungle usually takes two to three years gaps in between their albums, from what I noticed, but as each album has been released, I’ve grown more interested in Jungle, not only as an artist but of the people involved, why they began, and how. Also, after listening to the album, I wanted to buy merch, which I ended up persuading myself not to, knowing I had college debt. Well, that and the shirt I wanted sold out because I forgot to refresh the page to make sure it was still in stock. I feel that even though this album has gotten a lot of flak, people who’ve listened to previous albums should still give it a listen, and who knows, maybe, just like me, this will be their favorite album of Jungle. For anyone new to the band, I feel starting with this album can be your best bet, and if you like it, go have a listen to their older ones.