Soul and R&B singer Jalen Ngonda is heading to the Grand Duchy on 12 May, where he’ll take to the stage at den Atelier as part of his European tour. Ahead of the show, he spoke to RTL Today’s Tom Einarsson about his music, his influences, and interests.
Even though his sound draws heavily from classic soul and Motown, Ngonda is hesitant to pin it down too precisely. He prefers to leave that up to the listener, though he admits it naturally leans in that direction: “On the surface, it’s going to head into Motown and those kinds of feels.”
In an industry that moves quickly and is increasingly shaped by algorithms, Ngonda keeps his focus on themes that are timeless. “As long as humans are around, someone’s going to break somebody’s heart, and someone’s going to fall in love. So I think it still fits in our time, and it would have fit in the 80s or 90s,” which corresponds with his songs usually centred on romance, heartbreak, and new love.
That sense of timelessness is central to his approach. Rather than trying to adapt his sound to fit current trends, he prefers to keep things instinctive. “I try not to think too hard about what the world I’m in when I’m in writing a song, I just write a song. And then I just give it to the audience. If they like it, they like it. If they don’t, they don’t. I just don’t go too into it.”
This timelessness in his sound goes back to a time before instant access, as he relates growing up without internet at home, which made discovering older records a lot harder. Now, he notes, it takes seconds to pull up artists from decades ago – just “type Elvis, and there you go,” he says. He appreciates that accessibility, but also recognises that modern streaming has changed the way people discover music, which he compares to a digital version of driven machines instead of friends, calling it “one hell of a beast!”
Despite that shift, his own listening habits haven’t really moved with the times. “When I get home and I put my Bluetooth headphones on, I’m just going through the 60s stuff, all the time. It could also be the 40s, the 50s, it could be the early 70s. Every now and then it could be a little bit of 80s.”
He continues, “When I do listen to new music, it’s when someone’s showing me a new song. And I’ll go like, “yeah, that’s a nice song. I really like it. I think it’s cool, but I’ll still stick to my old music.... It’s something that I think is a weird sort of birth defect.”
That deep connection to older sounds has had an unexpected side effect: for some listeners, Ngonda has become a starting point for exploring classic soul. He’s noticed it in comments online and finds it amusing, joking that those listeners are now “addicts” – though clearly, he sees it as a positive.
As he prepares to head out on tour, Ngonda remains grounded and unfazed by industry pressures. His approach is straightforward: make music that feels right and let it find its audience.
Crucial to this approach is to not overcomplicate, not to change for the sake of changing. As he says, “I don’t do the Coke Zero stuff. I just like the classic Coke. I just like a good old cheeseburger, too.”
His performance at den Atelier on 12 May promises to be an unforgettable experience, so make sure to grab your tickets before they sell out!
You can find more information on Ngonda, his show ,and tickets here.
