In the spring of 2014, a London collective called Jungle put out a debut album with almost no press presence — no names on the sleeve, no faces in the promo, just the record and a studied silence about who had made it. The Mercury Prize nomination arrived anyway. The debut landed because the music was right: groove-driven, warm, rooted in 1970s funk and soul but processed through contemporary production in a way that felt like discovery rather than tribute. Twelve years later, Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson — the childhood friends at Jungle’s core — are playing arenas.
They bring the World Tour 2026 to Austin’s Moody Center ATX on Thursday, September 24, show at 8:00 PM, with support from Rio Kosta. Tickets are on sale now.
About Jungle
There is a particular kind of longevity that a band builds by staying close to the root. The 2014 debut — built on singles like “Busy Earnin'” and “Time” — announced a sensibility before it announced a sound: contemporary production that drew honestly from older wells without tipping into nostalgia or pastiche. The decade that followed held that line.
For Ever arrived in 2018 with an introspective lean; Loving in Stereo in 2021 brought the room back to its feet; and then 2023’s Volcano produced “Back On 74,” which became a streaming phenomenon and carried Jungle from cult audience to something approaching mainstream ubiquity. If you heard music in 2023, you likely heard it.
The fifth studio album, Sunshine — due August 14, 2026, on AWAL / Caiola Records — drops six weeks before the Austin date. Lead single “Carry On” debuted as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record on March 24, 2026, which suggests the momentum heading into the fall is already built. Sunshine features vocalist Lydia Kitto alongside McFarland and Lloyd-Watson’s production, and the band has described it as blending their signature funk, soul, and electronic influences with a fresh sonic direction. Austin audiences will have had two months with the record by show night — which is the better situation for a set built around new material.
Live, Jungle deploys a full band: backing vocalists, brass, percussion. These are not bedroom productions with a backing track. They are arena-scale shows in every sense the room requires.
Venue
Moody Center ATX opened in April 2022 on the University of Texas campus, adjacent to downtown Austin. The $338 million arena seats up to 15,000 in full configuration, hosts more than 150 entertainment nights per year, and has established itself quickly as the city’s premier large-venue destination for touring acts of this scale. For a group like Jungle — whose stage production requires a room that can absorb a full live band, a proper lighting rig, and an audience built for spectacle — the venue is the right fit.
Tickets
Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster. No age restrictions. Clear bag policy in effect at the venue.