Few bands manage to reinvent the familiar, yet Jungle has spent the better part of a decade reimagining vintage soul and R&B through a lens that feels both timeless and distinctly modern. Their sound is built on deep, warmly resonant grooves and wistful meditations on love and longing, yet an undercurrent of mystery and melancholy persists, inviting listeners to wonder if there’s more beneath the surface.
Led by Tom McFarland, Josh Lloyd-Watson, and Lydia Kitto, Jungle delivered a quintessential fluid live performance at the Tiny Desk, where songs flowed seamlessly into one another. As expected, the set featured more than half a dozen tracks woven into a single, continuous groove. “We’re gonna keep the music rolling,” Lloyd-Watson told the NPR audience, as the band transitioned effortlessly from 2018’s “Beat 54 (All Good Now)” into “Dominoes” from their 2023 album Volcano.
Despite their smiles, the band explored themes of faded dreams, fleeting infatuations, and the difficulty of holding on when everything unravels — touching on “Casio,” “Someday, Somewhere,” and “The Wave.” The set’s most vibrant highlight came midway, with a stunning six-part harmony performance on the 2025 single “Keep Me Satisfied,” before closing on a moody, slow-burning rendition of 2023’s breakout hit, “Back on 74.”
SET LIST
- “Someday, Somewhere”
- “Beat 54 (All Good Now)”
- “Dominoes”
- “The Wave”
- “Keep Me Satisfied”
- “Casio”
- “Back on 74”
MUSICIANS
- Lydia Kitto: vocals, guitar
- Josh Lloyd-Watson: vocals, guitar
- Tom McFarland: vocals, keys
- Lucy Kitto: keys, background vocals
- Geo Jordan: bass, background vocals
- George Day: drums
- Will Fry: percussion
- Kwaye: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Robin Hilton
- Director/Editor: Maia Stern
- Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
- Creative Director: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Alanté Serene
- Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
- Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Tiny Desk Team: Kara Frame, Felix Contreras
- Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen
- Photographers: Michael Zamora, Lexy Beale
- Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
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