Soul singer Jalen Ngonda gave us a breath of fresh air with his retro-leaning musical stylings on his debut Come Around And Love Me last year. The set — which includes the title track and single “That’s All I Wanted From You” — turned heads and caught ears with a sound that reminded listeners of soul music at its peak while also showcasing a bright new talent. Jalen has been hitting the road pretty hard since its release, but he somehow found some time to release a brand-new single, the sublime “Illusions.”
Where “Come Around and Love Me” was giving us Marvin Gaye vibes, “Illusions” definitely puts us in the mind of a young Stevie Wonder. The song is musically lush, with guitar, strings, bass and horns bopping along to the seemingly upbeat groove of the song. But, like Stevie before him, Jalen manages to work in a lovelorn narrative as he sings of his dreams of a love that he can call his own. That dream fades in the light of the day, however, leaving him alone with illusions of what could have been.
It all comes to a head on the chorus, on which an impassioned Jalen pours his heart into the lyric as he sings, “Illusions of (Illusions) / A life and love I’ll never know / Oh, illusions of (Illusions) / A matter that isn’t so.”
The singer doesn’t just give us a studio version of the track, however. He also takes to the BBC Radio 2 studios to offer a stirring live rendition. Sitting at a grand piano alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, he gives a rousing rendition of the song that sounds even better than the studio recording, tapping into the electric energy that makes him an artist worth checking for whenever the opportunity arises.
If you happen to live in or be going to Europe, you can currently catch Jalen Ngonda on an extensive tour that will see him play in various cities in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK throughout the spring. For a full list of dates and ticket information, visit Jalen's website.
But first, prepare yourself to be amazed by “Illusions” when you stream the song and watch his BBC Radio 2 performance right here.
