LET’s TALK ART : VOLCANO’S VISUALS
Us Against The World - Jungle
Hi everyone and welcome back to O313 Studio!
Today we’re talking about ‘Volcano - A Motion Picture by Jungle’.
I am so excited to write about this motion video that Jungle dropped about two months ago on their Youtube Channel. Jungle is a British electronic band composed of members Joshua Lloyd-Watson, Tom McFarland, and Andro Cowperthwaite. Lead Vocalist on the album is Lydia Kitto. The video features Jungle's tracklist of 14 songs which total to a play time of 44 minutes and 34 seconds. This motion picture has a short story feel to it and each song is paired with thoughtfully and amazingly executed choreography. The setting and wardrobe choices deliver a fun and theatrical element to the screen, and the cinematography is the cherry on top. It is evident that each detail has been specifically chosen to play it's own character throughout the video. Let’s talk about the music:
Right off the bat, Jungle has an artistic excellence that is amplified through their sound. Guest features by Erick the Architect, Channel Tres, Roots Manuva, Mood Talk, JNR Williams, and Bas are on the album as well. Jungle's electronic sound with perfected harmonies and groovy beats are hard to resist. The first song I heard from Jungle was 'Back On 74' when YouTube recommended the music video for me to watch. That was when I was first exposed to their creative genius. The vocals and beats are groovy and you can't help but put that pep-in-your-step while you're walking to work. Their music has a 70's tone to it, but something about the way they incorporate instruments and rap are so tastefully done, and what ultimately sets them a part from other electric bands. It's fresh and it has its own originality to it. The music isn't too much of anything, and nothing is overdone. Their sound is one that you'd hear in a cinematic movie, like the track 'Dominoes' for example. It has a light, airy, and "good morning world!" feel to it. The music paints its own picture in a world that is bright and abstract bounded by love. Jungle has already beaten everyone to creating this dancing cinematic universe that feel's like Romeo and Juliet. My favourite tracks on the album : Holding On, Candle Flame, Back On 74, and I've Been in Love. That isn't to say that all the other songs on the album aren't well written or don't sound "good", they are great tracks in their own terms. But watching the Volcano motion picture was the determining factor for these 4 songs being my top picks. Why? Let’s talk about the choreography:
Candle Flame ft. Erick The Architect
The choreography done throughout this track takes on the role as the narrative. 'Holding On', 'Candle Flame', 'Back On 74', and 'I've Been In Love' take the win for top picks because it ticks all the boxes for what I like artistically. The music is fire, the dance is fire, the styling and the wardrobe is fire, the hair and makeup is fire. All my boxes are ticked. But, we gotta give credit where credit is due because Shay Latukolan being the head choreographer for Volcano alongside assistant choreographers, Lars Bohte and Oriane Serveille, did a phenomenal job creating beautiful pieces of dance work. That's one of the biggest reasons why I think the visuals were successful in storytelling because the choreography had so much feel to it. I believe artistic brilliance is being able to translate from one form of art to another and when you're able to do that in a thought provoking way, you create not just a 44 minute video, or another album, or another dance, you create a world that is original and imaginative for your audience. That is what Volcano is. Every element in this world is its own, authentic, character. From the dancers, to their movements, to what their wearing, and the way their clothing move with them as they glide across the dance room, you can easily feel the plot and the story developing in a strong, visual way.
Holding On
I really enjoyed the choreography for 'Holding On'. It's giving fierce and it's the perfect song to add to your "that girl playlist 2k24" Artistically, I love how they play a lot with silhouettes, especially female silhouettes in this choreography. The dancers were 100% giving high fashion-runway energy (literally). That's what we're living for here on O313. What makes this dance so successful for me is the energy it's giving, it's a love letter to high fashion. These silhouettes are an ode to the poses we see in high fashion. The way the choreography highlights each dancer offers such a powerful message and that is : I AM HIGH FASHION. The dancers bring an array of emotions to the dance and I love the way it's been captured on film through the beautiful compositions and the phenomenal framing. 
Volcano has been my newest inspiration for creating my own art. After watching the whole video, I was astonished by how fresh this art felt. I was beginning to think that creative genius was a bit stagnant, but after seeing this, I feel like my eyes have been washed and I have inspiration again. I'm not a dancer, nor a songwriter, but I do paint. I get a lot of my inspiration from music and dance because I think it's interesting how the human body can connect with music so well and that is what's happening here in Volcano. A whole universe and love story is taking place in their dance studio and it transforms itself into a different place every time the track changes. That's a shoutout to the set designers too. I won't go too in depth with Volcano because I want to leave it up to you to come up with what this motion film makes you feel like. Everyone and I mean everyone, who worked on that project deserves all the love and applause in the world! What they made here is artistic brilliance, and I know I mentioned that before. There's nothing else for me to say but, to please go and check it out! Here's a short compilation of some of my favourite stills from Volcano. Thanks for reading today's blog post, I'm probably gonna go watch Volcano again because I'm obsessed. Talk to you all later! 
