The challenge of any band, any artist really, is evolution. To balance and maintain one’s success while still managing to grow and evolve is, in a lot of ways, its own form of art. Some can find that answer internally, and there are some who find that path to evolve in others. That’s precisely what happened with Jungle, the band formed by London-based producers Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, who already had three albums to their name: Jungle (2014), For Ever (2018), and Loving in Stereo (2021). And with hits like “Time” and “Keep Moving,” they’ve become synonymous with all things electro-funk. As great as those were, no one could’ve expected just how big their fourth album, Volcano (2023), would be, but it showed that sometimes a band can truly become something more just by adding the right person. And in Jungle’s case, that person was singer-songwriter Lydia Kitto.
Volcano has amassed over a billion streams on Spotify and has led Jungle to global acclaim. The band won Group of the Year at the 2024 BRIT Awards and performed at iconic festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury, where they headlined the West Holts Stage.
In time for their latest album, Sunshine, Josh and Lydia talk to Rolling Stone Philippines about their growth, their ideal collaborators, working on Le Sserafim’s “Come Over,” and what fans can expect from them in the future.
You guys had an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2024, where you were talking about evolution, and Tom specifically mentioned you, Lydia, as how Jungle has evolved. What did that evolution look like from your perspective?
Kitto: Well, it’s like getting into a relationship. It sort of gradually happens. I started working with the guys in like 2019, so it all happened so gradually that at no point did it ever feel like I’m in the band now. It just slowly happened. It’s amazing, and it’s a lovely experience, a lovely journey to have been on, and I’m lucky to be on it with two amazing guys.
It’s interesting that you compared it to a relationship. Is that what it’s like being in a band?
Kitto: Yeah, I guess so, especially in the beginning. Me and Josh first started working together because someone I was in a band with said, “Oh, you guys should get in the studio.” So we started working, and then we realized we have the same humor, and that we just instantly became best friends. It never felt like work or like we’re having to work to make a song. They just happened. That’s how it starts, and then it develops into something amazing.
I listened to the first three releases for Sunshine and it does feel like the Jungle that we know and love. But from creating it, maybe you can share what the new things were that you added to your sound?
Kitto: I guess the way we made it feel new is we were really trying to hone in on the vibe and really focus on taking elements of previous Jungle songs that we loved still and still vibed out to. We were really trying to capture that in the new album and the new songs. We were just focusing on creating warm sounds and warm feelings and feelings of nostalgia, and also trying to keep cool sounds in there sonically with the drums and the instruments that we played.
So much of what’s impressive with Jungle is that you all do multiple things. For Josh specifically, as the director of your music videos, I wanted to ask how having those multiple outlets allows your creativity to thrive?
Lloyd-Watson: I think it just allows you to kind of switch into different frames of mind. I’ve always been very interested in art and graphic design and the way things look and the way things are presented. So I kind of use the band to allow me to explore my graphic eye or my artistic eye. We’re visual people as human beings. So if you can captivate people in that world as well, it adds another depth to your world-building. And I think Jungle has always been about world-building. Anytime there is an opportunity to make something look great as well as sound great, I’m right there for it.
Was there maybe a specific inspiration or reference when you were planning the world-building of this new album?
Lloyd-Watson: The thought process is that with Jungle, it’s always its own brand. It has to feel like Jungle, you know? We don’t want to go so far from what people identify with or [what] feels familiar. With Jungle, it’s always about evolution. Like the album covers, for example, what does this color feel like? What does this album feel like? I think with Sunshine, it was about taking some of those bossa nova and Brazilian references and having the record feel like it was sort of sun-drenched or sun-worn, you know? Volcano had been very saturated and loud and highly energetic. You can’t go bigger or brighter than a volcano, so we had to go more worn-in, kind of dusty, you know? I wanted it to feel like a rare groove mixtape record that you’d find in a vinyl shop. It feels like there’s loads of different sounds on here, so I think we’re constantly thinking of different worlds to reference.
Whether in just making the music or making your video, how would you guys define a good collaboration or a good collaborator?
Kitto: I think it’s when it feels effortless and doesn’t feel like it’s work. It doesn’t feel like you’re having to work really hard to make the collaboration work, and that your work routines just fit with each other so well. I think when you find a really good friend that you can make music with, there’s nothing better than that.
So speaking of collaborations, and given that we’re in Asia, I have to ask what your collaboration with Le Sserafim was like. Given that you had to deal not just with a different sound but in some ways, a different way or working as well.
Kitto: Yeah, it’s definitely a very different way of working. We didn’t actually meet the Le Sserafim girls themselves, and we didn’t work in the studio with them, which I think is quite common for the way that these pop songs are made. I think there were like three or four guys, and they came to a studio, and they already had like a visual in mind. They had like a visual inspiration of what they wanted the song to feel like, and then when we were sort of jamming through ideas, and once they realized that we’d sort of made something that could suit the visual, they came and showed us the visual with the song we just made, and it was like it was a crazy way of working. Really eye-opening and really quite enjoyable because it’s not anything we’ve ever done before. Never made music like that.
Lloyd-Watson: Yeah, we just made the song. Like me and Lydia just made it. It was almost a bit weird. It was like we had a couple of guys come over from their label and some of their writers, and it was almost like a live demonstration of how to make a song. We just sort of made it in front of them for an hour and a half, and went, “Here. You go have that.” It was just something that we did on a certain day. I don’t think we like overly thought about it. I don’t think we dreamed about doing it, you know? And I think that you know it’s done well for them. I think they like it. It’s fun to watch it go off and watch people enjoy it.
Kitto: We did meet them actually. We met the girls at Coachella a couple of years ago, so we finally got to meet them after making the song. That was quite surreal. Very sweet girls.
So with the release of Sunshine, what can fans expect from your new album? Is it more of the things that they’ve come to love, or are there things that maybe they’ll find surprising?
Lloyd-Watson: I think it’s honed in on what Jungle are best at. I think Volcano was an album of shocking, upbeat, energetic surprises. Like we’re going to take this energy to the next level, and I think with Sunshine, we don’t need to shout to be heard. I think it’s much more restrained in terms of we know what we do is of a certain quality, and when we’re confident in it, it doesn’t need to be too crazy or loud. It just needs to feel good.
Kitto: Yeah, I completely agree. I think it’s way more of a vibe-y album. There were definitely a bunch of songs on Volcano that maybe I didn’t love at the time, and probably still don’t quite love now. But on this album, there’s the majority of it that I absolutely love, and I’m really confident in the songs. So that’s a good sign.
Listen to Jungle’s Sunshine now on Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms.
Recommended Video
