Review: Pretty Little Thing - Jungle (ft. Bas)
- by Jordan
- in Reviews
Founded in 2013, Jungle is a British Electronic group, started by producers, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland. This past Friday they released their fourth studio album, Volcano. The album’s outro, “Pretty Little Thing” features Dreamville signee (J. Cole’s music label), Bas. Uncredited and pitched-up vocals from Lydia Kitto are also provided for the hook of the song.
Produced by J. Lloyd, the instrumental is soulful and funky. The production almost sounds like a sunrise personified. Slick guitars, soft pianos, thick live bass, and clunky drums offer Bas optimal space to spit two well-tailored verses. J. Lloyd describes the “Pretty Little Things” instrumental as “a ballad, a chance to reflect on moments and reflect on the old experience.” Bas’ contributions to the track are not only on theme, but paint a more detailed and focused portrait of the landscape that J. Lloyd envisioned. Bas morphs the track into a song of contemplation and meditation on the past, as one travels and sees the world. Bas places himself physically in the Adriatic Sea, the Alps, etc., while also using locations and landmarks like the Nile river for metaphorical imagery. Through that lens, the journey of the song becomes a much wider experience. This global perspective is symbolically parallel with an astronaut gazing upon Earth from space and realizing how fickle the issues that remain there seem, all while simultaneously finding beauty in it all. It’s also prudent to mention the “trip” that’s being taken when Bas refers to taking Acid. Bas highlights the importance of experiencing these trips solo in the final lines of the second verse, “So I booked a ticket where I could run free / I forgot to mention this trip got one seat, one seat”. These journeys, both physical and spiritual, offer new perspectives to Bas’ memories of the past.
Bas’ technical proficiency is on full-display here, which in the context of the song, serves multiple purposes. One, it shows his gifts as a penmen and how well he can craft a skillful, intelligent, and proficient verse. Secondly, it offers a musicality to his verses that accompany the production wonderfully. Given that Jungle is an Electronic/Dance group that takes heavy influence from Funk, it only makes sense to write verses that are as melodious as possible (even without actual melody). Multi-syllable rhyme schemes, unique diction, and alliteration are all powerful ways to achieve this particular style. Bas’ first verse is filled to the brim with tactful rhyming and distinctive word choice, “If you asked, you would know / I'm masking the blows / I only let you see the half, bask in the glow / I laugh when they joke, it's hazardous not to / I cry when I'm 'lone, the past ain't as kind / I find we livin' with the demons inside / The higher we fell, the deeper the resentment resides”. I didn’t want to include that much of the verse but the technical patterns just keep going. Bas offers two extremely well-crafted verses that genuinely caught me off-guard. Within the first few bars I had a scrunched up face and was rewinding the track. I was more than pleasantly surprised with the quality of Bas’ contributions.
Given the pitch on the hook, the vocals might seem a bit jarring at first, but by the second time you hear it, the melodies become infectious. Lydia’s vocal layering throughout the track brings a certain mesmerizing and anesthetic vibe to an already potently atmospheric song.
“Pretty Little Thing” scratches an itch that will always need scratching for me. The bars are there, the vibe is there, the content is there, and it’s just genuinely enjoyable. This song will be in heavy rotation for me in the coming weeks. So much so that I’m inspired to dig deeper into both Jungle and Bas’ respective catalogs. Volcano is out now and available everywhere. Give yourself some more summer vibes before the season is out.
