London-via-DC soul singer Jalen Ngonda has announced that he’ll follow his 2018 Talking About Mary EP and a string of singles with his debut album, Come Around and Love Me, on September 8 via Daptone Records (pre-order). Jalen wrote and recorded the album with the help of Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito, who are both members of Charles Bradley’s Extraordinaires. “I love music from the 20th century— I listen to it all the time, but I’m in this world and the 21st century,” Jalen says. “To a stranger, I’d 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 features recent singles “What A Difference She Made,” “Just Like You Used To,” and “If You Don’t Want My Love,” as well as the just-released title track, which opens the album and which Jalen says is “about taking a chance in spite of the surrounding doubts.” All of the singles he’s released so far give an authentic, refreshing update to ’70s-style soul, and this new song is no different. Watch the video for the title track and stream the three previous singles below.
Jalen has also announced a North American September/October tour, followed by some Europe/UK dates in November, and tickets for all dates are on sale now.
NYC gets a stop on September 16 at Racket. All dates are listed below.
Tracklist
1. Come Around and Love Me
2. If You Don’t Want My Love
3. Lost
4. That’s All I Wanted From You
5. Please Show Me
6. Just Like You Used To
7. What A Difference She Made
8. Give Me Another Day
9. So Glad I Found You
10. It Takes A Fool
11. Rapture
Jalen Ngonda — 2023 Tour Dates
09/05 – Asheville, NC @ Grey /Eagle
09/06 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
09/07 – Durham, NC @ Motorco
09/08 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
09/11 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
09/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ MilkBoy
09/14 – Baltimore, MD @ 8×10
09/15 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
09/16 – New York, NY @ Racket
09/18 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe
09/19 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
09/21 – Evanston, IL @ SPACE
09/24 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
09/27 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
09/28 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
09/30 – Ft. Collins, CO @ The Armory
10/01 – Salt Lake City, UT @ State Room
10/03 – Boise, ID @ The Olympic
10/05 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
10/06 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
10/07 – Portland, OR @ The Jack London Revue
10/09 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
10/10 – Sacramento, CA @ Starlet Room
10/11 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brew
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers
10/15 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
10/16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Last Exit
10/18 – Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Arts Collective
10/19 – Austin, TX @ Empire Garage Control Room
10/20 – Houston, TX @ Axlerad
10/22 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
11/01 – Glasgow, SCT @ King Tut’s
11/02 – Liverpool, UK @ Jimmy’s
11/04 – Birmingham, UK @ O Institutes
11/06 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
11/07 – London, UK @ Jazz Cafe
11/08 – Rotterdam, NL @ Bird
11/09 – Paris, FR @ Cafe De La Danse