Jalen Ngonda announces second album, Doctrine Of Love

Doctrine Of Love follows Ngonda's 2023 breakout debut album Come Around And Love Me, and sees him move away from the 1970s Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield-inspired foundations of his first work, embracing 1950s New Orleans R&B, as well as Chicago and Detroit soul within the upcoming collection of songs. The title track offers the first look into Ngonda's fresh sound, and the emotional dynamics of the record.

Discussing the song, Ngonda explains: “I wrote that track when I was trying to do anything to get out of the studio.I was listening to a lot of James Brown at the time and that was an inspiration. ‘Doctrine’ to me was a word no-one ever uses. I took it to be like a certificate, the ‘Certificate of Love’ - look, I think maybe I meant ‘doctorate’, but we wrote it and recorded it and now it's a whole thing. I just write the song. The listener can interpret it however they want.”

Speaking about his approach to expressing his love of soul on Doctrine Of Love, Ngonda adds: "It's no exaggeration to say that every day of my life I wish I would wake up in 1964 in Detroit recording with the Funk Brothers. But that's not my life. So what I can do is express my thoughts and my fascination with that sound and period and just be an artist. The Doctrine Of Love holds that every thought and action should be guided first by compassion for others, because love is the highest measure of human worth.”

Doctrine Of Love artwork

Doctrine Of Love tracklist

"Anyone In Love"
"Doctrine Of Love"
"Mr. Train Conductor"
"Burning Temptation"
"Love Is Gone"
"I Can’t Ever Leave You"
"Hannah, What’s the Matter?"
"Good Good Love"
"Hang It On The Shelf"
"Taken Out Of The Picture"