Jalen Ngonda
Come Around And Love Me LP

Artists like Jalen Ngonda come around once in a lifetime, so it is our privilege and distinct pleasure to announce the release of his debut album Come Around and Love Me. Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. His voice, equal parts raw feeling and elegance, exudes confidence and charm - disarming packed rooms of rowdy concert goers, leaving them silent as they hold fast to every syllable sung. Now it's your turn to come around and love one of the finest soul albums of the decade.

Plans for the album were struck just months before the COVID 19 pandemic shut the world down. Notwithstanding, Jalen eventually made it to Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY where he began writing and recording with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley's Extraordinaires) and a crack team of a-list musicians from the Daptone family. The team skillfully blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with motown sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment. Jalen has been writing songs since he was 14, and his compositions are also very much of these times.

He explains, “I love music from the 20th century— I listen to it all the time, but Iʼm in this world and the 21st century. ...to a stranger, Iʼd describe my music as modern soul and R&B, while trying to fit in the Beach Boys and the Beatles somewhere in between.” Come Around and Love Me reveals how he creates a classic approach that is rooted in the sounds of revered pioneers, without falling into imitation–leaving no doubt that Jalen will continue to shine within the superlative, timeless musical tradition that is Daptoneʼs hallmark. 

NEW / Released in 2023

Tracklist:

A1 Come Around And Love Me

A2 If You Don't Want My Love

A3 Lost

A4 That's All I Wanted From You

A5 Please Show Me

B1 Just Like You Used To

B2 What A Difference She Made

B3 Give Me Another Day

B4 So Glad I Found You

B5 It Takes A Fool

B6 Rapture