Jungle’s ‘Sunshine’ Turns the Afterparty Into Emotional Inquiry

Jungle’s fifth album, Sunshine, arrives as a structural departure even while its textures remain familiar. Where 2023’s Volcano functioned as a euphoric release, the new 11-track record turns inward, threading longing and quiet anxieties through the group’s electronic soul.

During a break in California, vocalist and newest member Lydia Kitto described the writing position as hindsight. “I don’t think you can ever really sing about the pain when you’re going through the pain,” she said. “You sing about it in hindsight.” That distance shapes tracks like “The Wave” and “Come Back to Me,” while “Carry On” echoes the melodic mood of earlier single “Back On 74.”

Across the record, the group recalibrates nostalgia. “Where Are You Now?” pairs rain imagery against a French-touch-leaning bassline, and the standout “Someday, Somewhere” moves through contradictions and key changes with a bruised clarity. For a band that has spent a decade harmonising traditional and contemporary sounds, Sunshine frames emotional repair as the main source of motion—not the afterparty, but its clearing.

Jungle begin a world tour next month.