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Every summer there’s an album that exudes hot, hot summertime at its height. If 2013’s was Random Access Memories, my nomination for 2014 is the self-titled debut from West London duo Jungle. Nothing on it will dominate radio like Get Lucky, but you can still practically feel the heat rising off the pavement when you press play.
Jungle’s core members, childhood best friends Josh and Tom, make well-balanced dance tunes – lush, but with plenty of breathing space between slow builds and feverish climaxes. It takes a seven-piece to recreate it live. The band mixes Bee Gees-style falsetto harmonies, soul-pop melodies and spunky bass-slapping into a stew of futuristic funk and disco. (Imagine if Michael Jackson, Hall & Oates, Thundercat and Disclosure collaborated.)
Hit single The Heat boasts earworm grooves, Smoking Pixels provides an unexpected whistled spaghetti-western-meets-electro bleeping interlude, while final song Lemonade Lake is a perfect finger-snapping cool-down.
Top track: The Heat
Jungle play the Danforth Music Hall on October 6.
