Jungle - For Ever

U.K. neo-R&B stylists Jungle appeared in 2014, offering up a brilliant debut album surrounded by mystery. At that point, Jungle was the duo of bedroom producers Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson. Early on they kept their identities and any background information close to the vest, going by T and J and opting to let Jungle's bounding grooves and syrupy hooks speak for themselves. In the four years between their self-titled debut and sophomore album For Ever, much changed for Jungle. Instead of performing with laptops, the group expanded into a fully organic seven-piece live band and dropped their anonymous approach as album sales and popularity grew. Jungle relocated to Los Angeles for a time, and during the writing of For Ever, both McFarland and Lloyd-Watson went through serious breakups. These two conflicting factors seem to inform the songs here more than anything else, as relaxed, sun-dazzled funk conceals sentiments of heartbreak and loss throughout. The band decamped to Hol