Jalen Ngonda

American-born and UK-based soul singer Jalen Ngonda brings his finely honed live show to Project House in Leeds on 1 November 2026. Raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and shaped on the Liverpool circuit after studies at LIPA, he writes compact songs that draw on 60s soul frameworks—solid bass lines, mid-tempo grooves, voice up front—while keeping a clear, contemporary edge. Signed to New York’s Daptone Records, he has released a run of singles and the 2023 album Come Around and Love Me, material that moves between slow-burn ballads and tighter, more danceable cuts.

On stage, Ngonda keeps the instrumentation lean: rhythm section first, with occasional brass or strings, leaving space for phrasing and dynamics. The set tends to glide from tender laments to crisp, foot-moving numbers, all anchored by a warm, uncluttered sound. He brings the intimacy of his early club gigs to a bigger room without losing focus on the essentials: songs that breathe, grooves that carry, and a voice that leads.