Come Around and Love Me: Vinyl LP

Label: Daptone Records
Release Date: 8th September

It's the rarest of things to find a new soul artist who gives that legit golden era 60s/70s feel without sounding slightly dated or 'retro', there's nothing wrong with it, we lap that up. But sometimes you just want that timeless because Marvin, Stevie, Otis, Curtis, Rev Al et al certainly don't sound dated today. It's kinda mad to even be talking about these names alongside a modern artist like Jalen Ngonda but here we are. His voice is so sweet to the ear and that Daptone production with it's prime concept album Marvin Gaye lushness is mana from heaven. Probably gonna be the best soul record of the year.

Artists like Jalen Ngonda come around once in a lifetime, so it is our privilege and distinct pleasure to announce the release of his debut album Come Around and Love Me. 

Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. His voice, equal parts raw feeling and elegance, exudes confidence and charm—disarming packed rooms of rowdy concert goers, leaving them silent as they hold fast to every syllable sung.

Now it's your turn to come around and love one of the finest soul albums of the decade.

Plans for the album were struck just months before the COVID 19 pandemic shut the world down. Notwithstanding, Jalen eventually made it to Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY where he began writing and recording with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley's Extraordinaires) and a crack team of a-list musicians from the Daptone family. The team skillfully blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with motown sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment.

Jalen has been writing songs since he was 14, and his compositions are also very much of these times. He explains, “I love music from the 20th century— I listen to it all the time, but Iʼm in this world and the 21st century. ...to a stranger, Iʼd describe my music as modern soul and R&B, while trying to fit in the Beach Boys and the Beatles somewhere in between.” Come Around and Love Me reveals how he creates a classic approach that is rooted in the sounds of revered pioneers, without falling into imitation–leaving no doubt that Jalen will continue to shine within the superlative, timeless musical tradition that is Daptoneʼs hallmark.