FEATURED ARTIST: Jonquil

JONQUILs may be one hell of a pretty flower (yes, music writers can have opinions on flowers), but they are also one hell of an indie-pop act. They’re one of those acts that appear out of nowhere, but stick with you for years, constantly taunting you with the fact they are not from Australia and the chance of you seeing them is slim to none. Maybe this piece will bring them one step closer to gracing our shores?

Hailing from Oxford, better known as ‘that place that Foals are from’, Jonquil  is spearheaded by Hugo Manuel, aka Chad Valley and for anyone who knows anything about anything; they are two very impressive facts to have backing your band. The multi-instrumentalist /songwriter originally used Jonquil as a solo outlet in an attempt to flesh out his bedroom recordings, but now, as a 4-piece, the band have shifted their focus towards a more holistic approach – as a unique and super professional pop act.

But why should you want to see them in Australia? Well it’s pretty simple actually; their approach to pop is completely different to the music that is pushed out every single week by every single artist on Triple J. The use of plenty of smooth synths and key work contrasts the jungle percussion work and when it’s backed with Manuel’s soothing and blissful vocals – you have a melancholic work filled with tropical undertones. They call it ‘Paul Simon’s take on The Smiths’ – we call it amazeballs (we’ll admit we’re not as creative with adjectives).

So far the band have released 3 full albums and an EP, Sunny Casinos (2006), Lions (2007), Whistle Low EP (2008) and the latest, Point Of Go which only hit shelves last month. The latter already racking up mountains of plays from us. They have also toured the UK and Europe extensively and have supported some of the best indie acts going around such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Foals and The Morning Benders.

The lead single and highlight track of the album is, ‘It’s My Part’. A super bubbly and catchy track with all the melancholic tendencies we mentioned earlier. We’ve got the clip for it above, plus a superb remix coming from one of our favourite producers at the moment, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, who turns it into a 6 minute deep atmospheric club hit.

Words by Tom Hutchins