Jungle

Review: Following the runaway success of their Mercury Music Prize nominated 2014 debut album, Jungle moved to Los Angeles to record the follow-up. It didn't work out for a variety of musical and personal reasons, so they headed back to London and recorded "For Ever" instead. While some of the lyrics reflect on their musical and personal issues during that time, the resultant songs are as soulful, polished and jaunty as you'd expect. Check, for example, the sun-kissed disco-pop of "Heavy California", the sumptuous lo-fi soul shuffle of "Cherry", the head-nodding grooves and lyrical melancholy of "Happy Man" and the grandiose, bittersweet brilliance of "House In LA".

Review: Pop duo Josh Lloyd-Watson & Tom McFarland, or simply J & T as they are known, realise their second album for pioneering independent label, XL. Since the pair's debut self-titled release back in 2013 the group has expanded to something around seven members and following a slew of singles and EPs (inclusive of a Soulwax remix) the band are now bursting with fresh life and colour. Take "Heavy, California" for example, a sing-a-long pop number that's bright and cheery enough to make you want to skip through the streets with a dandelion in your hair regardless of the season. "Cherry", the other track thrown around online, sees Jungle live up to their Neo Soul genre tag, and with 11 more tracks to explore, maybe they'll even find hit that second Mercury Prize nomination.

Review: The best editions of the long running "Back To Mine" series tend to be those where the chosen selector offers up a varied but loosely linked mix of surprising and lesser-known tunes. On their edition, Mercury Prize nominated duo Jungle has done just that. Beginning with the bluesy late night lament of Barbara Moore's "Steam Heart", the pair takes us on a warming and eye-opening journey through Afrobeat (Inflo), glassy-eyed wind-down deep house (Manuel Darquart, Admin's brilliant "Space Cadet"), skewed pop (Mocky), string-laden jazz-funk (Kamaal Williams), Serge Gainsbourg-esque chanson (Sam Evian), drowsy Balearica (Mansur Brown), and loved-up 1960s style dream pop (The Flying Stars Of Brooklyn NY, HNNY).