For a band whose music and visuals are instantly recognisable, Jungle themselves have remained strangely invisible. For years, Josh Lloyd-Watson, Tom McFarland und Lydia Kitto purposely kept the focus away from their own personalities, letting the songs and films speak instead.
That’s just one of the many contradictions that define them. Because if there’s one thing Jungle is known for, it’s creating music that feels instantly familiar yet constantly evolving. Their songs build on one another like chapters of the same story, one rooted in honesty, connection, and shared passion. Drawing from reggae, dub, dancehall, UK rave culture and breakbeat, the British trio have developed a rhythmic, electrifying sound that is unmistakably their own.
Another contradiction Jungle is known for: they may focus on music, but movement has become just as essential to the world they’ve built. It’s their one-shot dance films, made alongside a close circle of recurring dancers, choreographers and cinematographers, that bring everything full circle; carrying songs like Carry On oder Back On 74 to that magical final stage where nobody, not even the band themselves, knows what they’ll do to people until they’re finally released.
With their fifth studio album Sunshine arriving today, we joined the three musicians on a video call, connecting with them from different corners of the world, from their UK studio to a sun-drenched terrace in California. We spoke about Sunshine, creative evolution, the pressure to constantly perform online, about anonymity and about why mystery might once again become one of music’s most valuable qualities.
Photography by Mason Rose.
AMELIE BACHERT So, the first question I have for the three of you is who’s the perfectionist and who’s the one who says, it’s fine, let’s just move on?
JOSH LLOYD-WATSON I’m the perfectionist, and Tom’s the one who says it’s fine, let’s move on.
AB Lydia, what are you in that constellation?
LYDIA KITTO Depends on what it is. I’m definitely a perfectionist about my vocals, that’s where the guys have to tell me it’s great, let’s move on.
TOM MCFARLAND I feel like Lyd is equally chilled about moving on and about putting more effort into something.
AB Sounds like the perfect dynamic, in my opinion. Josh and Tom, you’ve known each other since you were children, and Lydia, you’ve been part of the group for quite some time now too. How do you manage to still surprise one another?
LK Turn up in a fancy dress every time we see each other, just to keep each other on our toes.
JLW Yeah, normally I’ll turn up wearing some sort of clown outfit, and Tom will come in normal clothes. That’s when we’ll go, bloody hell, that’s surprising, let’s go, we should write some music.
AB How has the dynamic of the group changed since Lydia joined?
LK Unfortunately, I can’t tell. I didn’t know what the dynamic was before.
TM Lydia’s an amazing songwriter. Her sense of harmony and her vocals have allowed us to create music beyond what Josh and I could achieve without her. Josh and I used to beat ourselves up for not being able to get Jungle to where we thought it deserved to be sonically and musically. Now, with Lydia, it’s easy. Good vibes all around.
AB You’re about to release your new album, Sunshine. How will Jungle evolve through it?
JLW We don’t really know yet. We’re always reacting to whatever we’re feeling. Evolution happens in real time, so I don’t think we can predict what the future holds. We’ll see where the road takes us after the release.
AB Are there any creative traps you tried to avoid this time, ones you’d experienced before?
JLW Yeah, we take a lot of influence from the Beatles in terms of trying to get records done quickly, or at least confined to short deadlines. We learned from the second record that having forever to make an album can, ironically, take forever. We wanted to avoid getting stuck in a loop of our own process. We had tours booked, arenas held for September this year, and we didn’t have a record at the start of the year. So we had two months to push something through. That kind of pressure creates fantastic things.
AB That works well in such a fast-paced industry, but as a perfectionist, I imagine it can be quite hard sometimes.
LK You just have to let go.
AB Is there a song on the album that would surprise someone who already knows what Jungle sounds like?
JLW Probably the whole record, honestly. We haven’t gone and made a genre that isn’t Jungle, but I think we’ve tuned into the heart and soul of our most carefree songs. Volcano was an extrovert album, saturated, full of left and right turns, trying to shock you with switch ups mid song. Sunshine, on the other hand, is about embracing the feel good side of previous albums, songs like Casio und The Heat, effortless ones. I think people will enjoy this album because it holds you in a certain space instead of trying to shock you for the sake of it.
AB You’re also very well known for your music videos. What can you tell us about how Sunshine will be told visually?
JLW On Let’s Go Back, Keep Me Satisfied und Volcano, we established that these were performances happening on a set, a comment that it’s not real. On Let’s Go Back, the dancers, and us, belonged to this bigger archive inside a jungle warehouse, almost like Toy Story, the toys get put away, and we were in there too. On Sunshine, on the other hand, we find our lead character, Will, at a point where he thinks he’s made it out, kind of awoken. We’ve been obsessed with Westworld und The Matrix, and even though these are just dance videos, we built in that underlayer, he’s trying to break out through dance, through contemporary movement and expression. So, we land in a new space and follow Will as he finds his way through it. Dot dot dot.
AB I’m excited to see it. I remember when the music video for Back On 74 came out, it was a proper viral moment. When you come up with a concept for a video, do you intentionally think about creating viral moments, or is that something you want to happen organically?
LK I don’t think you can ever really predict or try to create something that goes viral, because what’s trending changes every minute. It’s hard to keep up with. And if you have that in mind, you won’t make something pure and meaningful, you’ll make slop.
JLW With Back On 74, we were doing the same thing we’d always done. I think the world just aligned with it at that specific moment. Then you see people trying to copy that or jump on the bandwagon, and it doesn’t work. So, we just keep doing the same thing, hope the art resonates, and let the world eat it up.
AB Speaking of visual identity, in the beginning Jungle was mainly anonymous. Looking back, what do you think that anonymity made people think of you? Do you think it made them listen to the songs differently?
JLW I think anonymity in music is amazing. We were massively inspired by Daft Punk and some of the greats who created that kind of lore. I think it’s really important that you don’t give everybody everything. It’s like a movie, if you just show the opening scene and then the ending, or the plot twist, straight away, it gets boring. It doesn’t keep you hooked.
TM Yeah.
JLW Artists like Jai Paul, Daft Punk and Justice, for example, built things bigger than the individuals. And look at someone like Mk.gee, you can’t find an interview with him. It makes you more intrigued, rather than someone like Sabrina Carpenter. She’s cool, she’s everywhere, but I don’t find that as musically intriguing.
LK Some people are made for that, though. You want to see certain personalities and characters within music everywhere, and others you don’t. You like the mystery.
TM The fourth wall’s been lost with the proliferation of modern media. When we were growing up, the only things we could find out about the artists we loved came through two or three magazines. If the Strokes were in NME that month, you’d think, I’ve got to go and buy it. There was always some distance. In the end, you didn’t really know. No one knew who David Bowie really was, they just knew he made great music and that he was this character. They didn’t know what he had for breakfast.
AB I think it’s really interesting what you’re saying. In the digital age, artists are expected to brand themselves, to present themselves, to be chronically online. Do you think there will be a counter movement of artists valuing anonymity in the future again?
LK I think we are seeing that a bit already.
TM Charli xcx said something interesting the other day. She was like, I think the future of marketing is actually anti-marketing and actually using more intimate experiences with your audience. The goal is to drive the narrative yourself rather than relying on big media to drive the narrative for you.
AB What is something you were able to protect because you decided to stay rather anonymous?
LK You won’t find any of our tits online anywhere, that’s for sure.
TM It’s very easy to stay grounded because our personalities aren’t that intrinsically intertwined with this. It’s not about our appearance. It’s not about who we are. It’s about the art we make. In a way, we’ve bought ourselves the chance to just focus on what we want to do.
AB We’ve arrived at my last question for today. When someone says “that’s such a Jungle song”, what do you hope they mean by that?
LK A good one.
TM I hope it makes them feel good. I hope it helps them remember good times they’ve had with their friends.
JLW Agreed.