The Daily Spin, December 11
Jungle | Volcano
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: Volcano (2023)
Artist: Jungle
Link:
Jungle are never quite able to capture the consistent elevation of previous works, but the highs are nearly unmatched.
Reminiscent of the Avalanches, with their sample-heavy electronica, propelled by absolutely pristine production and a healthy ability to navigate a variety of stylistic influences, Jungle splashed onto the scene through their music, but also their incredibly choreographed videos - most notably on this album, as the entire album was released as a choreographed film shortly after the full release of ten mainline videos from the album’s tracklist.
It’s this delicious merger of soulful joy with impeccable hip-hop and electronic production that really sells this album as a collection of breezy hits - there’s not a track in the album above four minutes long, and it shows - Jungle are content to never stick too closely with one singular identity. This has its ups and its downs - sometimes, the tough pills are a little easier to swallow, but addictive little tunes like ‘Back on 74’ or ‘Dominoes’ slide between your ears with the practiced comfort of a baseball player coming home - smooth.
If there were a few more moments where the production really clicked for me, I think this would be a shoo-in for my album of the year - but as it stands, this is four or five standouts and three 11/10s surrounded by a bunch of 8s. No one’s a loser, but there are a few clear standouts that dim the shine on everyone else around them.
Rating: 8.4/10
Best Tracks: Dominoes; Back On 74; You Ain’t No Celebrity
Worst Tracks: Us Against The World