Neon Jungle consists of Shereen, Amira, Jess and Asami and their debut album Welcome to the Jungle dropped at the end of July. That's who Neon Jungle are and what this review is likely to be about. Nutshell complete. The big questions are, is their music good? Can they sing? Will they continue their success?
Opener and second single Braveheart is known as their biggest hit to date. It's a club ready electro synth rumbler, with a euphoric pre-chorus. The dancefloor breakdown is pretty infectious and it's quite refreshing to have a girl band releasing music with this kind of roughness to it. Continuing the dancefloor vibe is Welcome to the Jungle, a dark dance track with an intimidating pre chorus build up. It's not as a standout as its predecessor and at times it can be quite coarse but it's certainly memorable. Debut single Trouble makes an expected appearance and in the context of the album doesn't sound as ridiculous or annoying as it did on its own. It's a very contrived piece of 'edgy' pop and the attitude filled shouty chorus coupled with vocoder grates.
The tone changes completely with Louder, the first instance of balladry on Welcome to the Jungle. It's a complete surprise and really does shit in my cereal (I said they couldn't sing, they can, bollocks). It's a thumping (almost) power ballad with a strong, memorable chorus and as I said, good singing. Waiting Game is another ballad, stripped back to a piano and vocal harmony arrangement. It's authentic and haunting to say the least and the strong run of ballads continues with Fool Me.
Welcome to the Jungle isn't quite a melting pot of genres, however it does dabble. The Rihanna imitations on Bad Man are distinct, but the track doesn't stand out even with all its bravado. It's certainly nowhere near the brilliance of the Ruby Goe track of the same name. They also dip into slow jam R'n'B with Can't Stop the Love which doesn't hit the mark, at all.
Sleepless In London is the album highlight. It's pure pop, with a thumping chorus and the most easily memorised lyrics on the album. In this case, simplicity is perfection. Similarly, Future X Girl goes down the pop route and it suits the girls perfectly. They inject a Princess Superstar inspired rap too, which actually works very well indeed.
Welcome to the Jungle is a revelation, albeit an imperfect one. They can sing, pretty well. Their music is at times, amazing and at others not so. I predict moderate success for them in the future. Moderate is better than none! With tracks like Sleepless In London, Future X Girl and Braveheart under their belts they've (hopefully) not got too much to worry about.
2.5/5
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