Jungle Are ‘Coming Back to Do Something Bigger’ at Lollapalooza India

When U.K. dance music duo Jungle landed in Mumbai for the first time in 2019, Tom McFarland says an instant memory that was imprinted in his mind was the traffic. “I’m a Londoner and there’s a lot of traffic there as well but it was quite remarkable [in Mumbai] – it was hot, it was exciting and vibrant. There were a lot of people, a lot of noise. That’s what makes you feel alive,” he says over a call.

It was an “attack on your senses, but in the very best way,” as McFarland puts it. He’s ready to dive into it all over again, five years on as Jungle return to India on January 28th, performing at the second edition of Lollapalooza India in Mumbai. It’ll be a day before his bandmate and co-founder Josh Lloyd-Watson’s birthday, which they’ll be celebrating. McFarland adds about what’s different now compared to their 2019 visit to headline SulaFest in Nashik, “Five years on, we’re a little bit older, a little bit wiser. The idea of what constitutes a good night out has changed a little bit, but I’m just excited to get back into the buzz of the environment.” On a tangent, he shouts out U.K. DJ Yung Singh, as a “really amazing Indian DJ” that he highly recommends.

The new year for Jungle starts with business as usual, in a way, after they released their fourth album Volcano in 2023 and took it all over the world. Songs like “Back On 74” were clear hits from the 14-track record that also featured notable collaborators like rappers Roots Manuva (“You Ain’t No Celebrity”) and Bas (“Pretty Little Thing”). It was a “not so busy” first half of the year for Jungle, according to McFarland, as they had a quick turnaround time with Volcano done between November 2022 and January 2023. After its release in August, promo was in full swing for a record that stay true to their dance, electronic, soul and hip-hop ways with an energy that fans would have to keep up with.

McFarland says, “Releasing a record is always an exciting moment in your career. Even though this is our fourth album, it still feels very exciting and very new […] We’ve done some amazing shows, our biggest shows ever so far. It’s just about getting back out there and seeing the fans and enjoying those moments with people that love you and love your music and that you respect and want to give something back to you.”

The biggest offering, arguably, was how Volcano upped Jungle’s already impeccable music video game – creating a full narrative film for the album. McFarland describes it as fulfilling a “lifelong ambition of ours” and shouts out working with choreographer Shay Latukolan, who got major attention after the “Back on 74” video went viral in August. He adds about their approach to the videos on Volcano, “I think as soon as we sort of had the record in place, obviously, our thoughts immediately turned to how we can represent it visually on screen.” He cites Daft Punk’s Interstella 5555 that accompanied the 2001 album Discovery as an influence and pulling something off on that scale was “a real testament to our artistic vision.”

Being on their own label since the last two albums is something that helps, McFarland suggests. “We don’t have anyone to tell us that something’s a stupid idea and it probably was a bit of a stupid idea at the time and probably cost us too much money. But for us, the art is bigger than the commerce. It means more to us and it means that we can get amazing moments,” he adds.

Ask him if he considers Jungle to be up for making a rock opera-equivalent film or musical in their own way and McFarland points to how Volcano feels like “some sort of modern soul ballet.” He adds, “For us, it just opens the door to any possibility now.” What about a soundtrack to a feature film? McFarland takes a breath before he mentions the documentary he’s finished writing music for. He says, “I hope that one day we can fulfill all our ambitions or dreams because as an artist, that’s what you want to do […] I think doing a full movie soundtrack or TV series stuff is something that we would very much enjoy.”

Meanwhile, looking ahead to Lollapalooza India, McFarland says he’s excited to see Sting, who’s playing the same day as them. “I’m really excited to go find new things that I maybe haven’t heard before,” he says.

Jungle perform at Lollapalooza India, co-produced and promoted by BookMyShow Live, between January 27th and 28th at Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai. Get tickets here.