The Jungle Giants are gearing up for a huge year and the momentum is flowing. Lead singer, songwriter and producer Sam Hales dials in from Mexico, where the Australian indie band has finished up a North American and Mexico tour, and is now writing with other artists and filming a music video. The group has recently released the make-you-move single ‘Trippin Up’ which features Hales’ R&B-esque falsetto over elements of drum-and-bass. It’s the introduction to a “new Jungle Giants discourse,” Hales says. “I was messing around with some keys and weird samples and I pulled together that strange bouncy key part you hear in the song. I really loved it but the rhyme and speed of it made it difficult to make a drumbeat to. I realised the only beat that would sense was a slightly slowed own D&B beat. That was something new. Sometimes the song just tells you what it needs… Pulling it together was just a fun process in the studio but I left it in a pile of demos when we were touring a lot. When it came to thinking about the next album this one was always in my head so I had to keep working on it.”

The song is the “opening of a good conversation,” getting Jungle Giants fans ready to expect the unexpected. “One thing I know is this record will keep people guessing. I don’t want anyone to think they can expect what the next single sounds like. I’m having a lot of fun experimenting with music right now, new sounds and new genres… There are new adventures and paths to go down.” Hales has grown a lot in his writing since the group’s critically acclaimed fourth studio album, Love Signs in 2021. “I really think that for a couple of years there I almost lost myself a little bit through anxiety or letting other people's pressures affect me too much,” he says. “In the last year I’ve really found my feet back on the ground. I’m being so much nicer to myself than I have in a long time which is cool. It’s helping me to look at the world in a sweeter way.” Together, the band are trusting each other as much “if not, more” than they ever have, embracing their roles and are fired up for the next record.

The next record sounds like it has been all about experimentation for Hales - he’s been mostly listening to experimental pop queen Rosalia, which we’re very happy to hear. “One thing I love with her records is you can tell its a pop song but there’s something kind of nuts about how the song is put together, and the production. I love listening to her songs. Every time you put one on you hear something new. I’m really liking that, that’s been a big inspiration for this new batch of songs.” The band has   released Australian and New Zealand tour dates, with a bigger and better show in the works. The artwork for 'Trippin’ Up' is a hint: “a lot more ‘90s rave elements. A whole new light show, new staging. I think we may be playing another new single so we’re looking at bringing people with this next tour introducing them to the album quite early. We’ve never done that before. We’re having a lot more fun right now. The show is going to be absolutely nuts.”

For now, all Hales can say about the forthcoming fifth studio album is: “it’ll surprise you”. Stay tuned.

Listen to Trippin’ Up HERE.‍

@thejunglegiants

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