Washington,DC-raised, London-based Jalen Ngonda has returned to announce his sophomore album, Doctrine of Love, arriving June 5th via Daptone Records. As an introduction to his eagerly-awaited full-length, Jalen is also sharing the album’s title track, a rousing, sharp statement on the enduring experience of loving someone and weathering the gravitational pull of those highs and lows.
Speaking on the album’s title track, Jalen explains: “I wrote that track when I was trying to do anything to get out of the studio. 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. I just write the song. The listener can interpret it however they want.”
Jalen is also announcing his own headlining European tour coming this Fall, with a series of dates beginning on October 2nd in Amsterdam. His European festival run continues an extensive run of live shows that begins this month with a series of Australian tour dates, a stint of UK and European shows in the Spring and a run of European festival dates in the Summer including Love Supreme (UK), North Sea Jazz (Rotterdam) and Mad Cool (Madrid).
Upcoming Live Dates:
3/4 – Perth, AUS @ The Astor Theatre
3/6 – Melbourne, AUS @ Forum Melbourne
3/7 – Adelaide, AUS @ WOMADelaide
3/8 – Meredith, AUS @ Golden Plains
3/10 – Sydney, AUS @ Enmore Theatre
4/22 – York, UK @ York Barbican
4/25 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy Oxford
4/27 – Sheffield, UK @ Octagon
4/29 – Margate, UK @ The Drill Shed
5/3 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Sound City
5/4 – Cheltenham, UK @ Cheltenham Jazz Festival
5/5 – Leicester, UK @ O2 Academy Leicester
5/11 – Rouen, FR @ Le 106
5/12 – Luxembourg City, LU @ Den Atelier
5/19 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie
6/26 – St. Gallen, CH @ OpenAir St. Gallen
6/28 – Milton Keynes, UK @ SMK Live Festival
7/4 – Glynde, UK @ Love Supreme Festival
7/10 – Rotterdam, NL @ North Sea Jazz
7/11 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
7/12 – Birmingham, UK @ Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul
7/17 – Pori, FI @ KIRJURINLUOTO
7/24 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival
8/5 – Rome, IT @ Casa Del Jazz
8/7 – Locorotondo, IT @ Masseria Ferragnano
8/13 – Oslo, NO @ Øyafestivalen
8/14 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West
8/30 – Portsmouth, UK @ Victorious Festival
10/2 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
10/3 – Groningen, NL @ De Oosterpoort
10/5 – Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria
10/6 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
10/8 – Paris, FR @ L’Olympia
10/9 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef
10/11 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
10/12 – Zurich, CH @ X-Tra
10/14 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
10/15 – Hamburg, DE @ Grosse Freiheit 36
10/16 – Copenhagen, DK @ Amarger Bio
10/24 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
10/27 – Bournemouth, UK @ O2 Academy
10/28 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
11/1 – Leeds, UK @ Project House
11/2 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom
11/3 – Manchester, UK @ Academy
