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.

In 2022 Ngonda signed with Daptone Records, the New York-based home of Thee Sacred Souls, Lee Fields, the Dap Kings, Charles Bradley and the Brooklyn studio that birthed Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black. His debut album Come Around And Love Me followed in 2023, with its breakout single and viral sensation "If You Don’t Want My Love,” produced by Vince Chiarito and Mike Buckley.

Resident now in South London, the last three years have taken Jalen Ngonda from the 300 capacity Moth Club in Hackney, to the 5000 plus Hammersmith Odeon, with the last two summers seeing him graduating from festival opening spots to a headliner in his own right, playing to huge crowds at Glastonbury and We Out Here festival, collaborating with Gorillaz and Jordan Rakei and supporting artists including Thee Sacred Souls, Freddie Gibbs and Olivia Dean.

Doctrine Of Love takes the template established with Come Around And Love Me, and distills it further down, a perfect tight blend of vintage soul authenticity reinterpreted for a modern sensibility. Swinging drums, soaring strings and scratching guitars lead into Ngonda’s irresistible falsetto playing with call and response with the backing singers. Every track sounds like a new Northern soul discovery or a hidden and undeclared Wu Tang sample. The trick lies in making the album the sum of the parts of life steeped in every aspect of vintage soul music and studio production without sliding into pastiche and cliche, and its a test the album passes with bright shining colours. “The first album is more of an early 70s feel, when I was listening to a ton of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and Delfonics. This album is set somewhere like 1968 so I’ve been listening to a lot of mid ’50s New Orleans records, a lot of girl groups, folk rock like the Byrds and The Beatles.”

Opening track and the first single “Anyone In Love” is like a lost Bacharach & David number, a beguiling mix of hypnotic strings and dreamlike backing vocals that feels like a song you’ve lived with all your life rather than only just released. Title track ‘Doctrine Of Love’ is an instant dance floor soul classic, building to a gospel-inspired crescendo with Ngonda testifying to step right up against a finger snapping rhythm. “Mr Train Conductor” keeps the uptempo vibes flowing, winningly working the classic soul trope of looking to someone - postman, switchboard operator, cab driver - to help the narrator find their way back to their love’s arms. Like its forbears, it's a relatable joy. ‘Burning Temptation’ is another out and out dancefloor stomper, a build you up buttercup of a song brimming with joy.

The second half of the album is more introspective, downbeat and gives a chance for Ngonda’s qualities as a balladeer to shine: “Love Is Gone” takes the tempo down to a floating end of night waltz shot through with heartbreak and catharsis. The plaintive “I Can’t Ever Leave You” has a much more Southern sensibility, a through line to Stax, Memphis and the heartbreak histrionics of James Brown and Al Green. “Hannah, What's The Matter?” keeps the tempo restrained with its heartfelt plea for clarity from a lost girlfriend. “Good Good Love” goes even further back for its inspiration, feeling back to at least the 1950s if not further, channeling blues, gospel and doo wop for a street corner symphony of optimistic love and desire. “Hanging On The Shelf” brings more of a funk flavour, a shuffling groove made for sampling leading into an emotional beat ballad.

The album is rounded off by “Taken Out Of The Picture,” a final tale of lost love and groping towards cautious understanding. “I’m always going to be writing mostly love songs,” he explains, “so I’ve got to keep mixing it up, there's only so many times I can say ‘you hurt me baby’.”

Live is the arena where Jalen Ngonda the musician, the songwriter and the performer all align and come most into focus, switching between heartfelt screaming, pleading vocals, guitar and more recently, piano. “Being on stage, playing guitar, singing and having people have a great time, it's a great feeling. The travelling, the hotels, the food, not so much, then once you get on stage it's amazing. It's kind of like a drug addict, you’re living the worst life but once you have a hit of that rock it's amazing. I want to sing a high note, I want a girl in the front to scream. That's a different kind of feedback from being in the studio with the producer nodding his head and saying ‘thats cool’.” 2026 sees Jalen Ngonda fulfilling his live destiny, with headlining appearances at festivals including Love Supreme, Mostly Jazz, Roskilde, Way Out West and Oya.

A musical sponge soaking up rock and folk influences as much as soul, name checking the Byrds in other same Breath as Stax, Ngonda remains a renaissance soul man at heart "It's no exaggeration to say that every day of my life I wish I would wake up in 1964 in Detroit recording with the Funk Brothers. But that's not my life. So what I can do is express my thoughts and my fascination with that sound and period and just be an artist.”