Carlswerk Victoria // Jalen Ngonda

Jalen Ngonda honours soul music's rich history while pushing it forward into new territory, an artist who’s both archivist and explorer, a disciple of the greats actively shaping the future of music. Having spent the last three years growing this new soul vision from small clubs to arenas and festivals across the world Ngonda stands poised to become the new spokesman of authentic soul with the release of his second album Doctrine Of Love. Doctrine Of Love is an instant classic of an album, a long player alive with a confidence and swagger that seals the young singer’s reputation as not only the spiritual heir of soul’s great leading men but a one-off songwriting talent stepping far out from the shadows of his artistic ancestors. The title track ‘Doctrine Of Love’ sets both the emotional tone and musical template for the rest of the album, “I wrote that track when I was trying to do anything to get out of the studio” remembers Ngonda. “I was listening to a lot of James Brown at the time and that was an inspiration - Doctrine to me was a word no-one ever uses, I took it to be like a certificate, the ‘Certificate of Love’ - look, I think maybe I meant ‘doctorate’, but we wrote it and recorded it and now it's a whole thing.” The Doctrine of Love is multi-faceted of course - yes, it can be a cool word that fits the song, it can be a code, a philosophy, words to live by, words to love by, words to write some classic music by. ““I just write the song,” Ngonda enthuses, “the listener can interpret it however they want.” The difference that makes Jalen Ngonda a pioneer rather than a disciple of this soul doctrine is he lives it 100%. He has an insatiable vinyl digging habit, searching for records wherever he goes in the world. His grandmother gave him “a shitload of Stax and Motown 45s” as a teenager and that gave him the bug. “I listen almost exclusively to music from the '60s," he enthuses. “The ‘50s, the ‘40s. Pretty much nothing past about 1972. Records do sound slightly better on an analogue system, but it's more of a behavioural thing with me.” This extends to his effortlessly classic style, “most of it is quite retro at the moment,” he admits, “that old skool thing. Who knows, soon I might be dressing in baggy jeans and sneakers, I’ve kind of been feeling that, then the month after I might be dressing from the 1940s. On stage I dress in 1950s clothing because I want to wear something slick when I’m singing a slick song.” The way he conducts himself on stage is an extension of this, the model of gentlemanly charm and grace, as if he’d had a crash course from the legendarily rigorous Motown charm school. He’s a 21st century modern spirit questing for vintage authenticity and the walking embodiment of a classic soul gentleman, a Marvin Gaye for the Discogs era. Born and raised in Maryland in the suburbs of Washington DC, the young Jalen found an early calling to the sounds of soul. “It started when I was 11 years old and I heard the Temptations on the radio,” he remembers. “It blew my mind. I was aware that it was old but to me I. Just thought "why does this sound so good?” One discovery led to another as he followed his passion down a vinyl strewn path. “I thought this was from 1964, so what else was released in 1964? So I’d listen to The Beatles, The Animals, Sonny & Cher. Didn’t care that it was old, I just loved the way it sounded.” Self-taught on guitar, drums and keyboards, Jalen found his first musical break playing drums in his local church. The same church several years later raised funds to help send Jalen to study music at LIPA in 2014, the Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts founded by Paul McCartney. Within a year he was recording and performing his own music, moving to London in 2018 and pursuing his musical career, busking on the street before he was recording, clawing his way up, refining his sound, capturing the organic funk and soul of the classic 60s Chicago and Detroit but with his individual combination of natural charm, swagger, musicality and showstopping falsetto to grow into a soul icon that channels Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson or David Ruffin for the 21st Century.