In their newest single, Watcha Need, JJ & The Mood create such a joyful atmosphere, infusing funk rhythms and shimmering synths and even jazz elements to create this euphoric listening experience. The soft vocals, the strong groovy bass line –this song encourages you to embrace all aspects of yourself and communicate your needs, all alongside a song that you can dance all your worries away to.
The spoken voice in the song is a lovely nod to the new-wave sound, as well as a great vehicle to drive home their feel-good message as a mantra. The bass riff has a great sounding groove which is so reminiscent of their Talking Heads inspiration that really sets the stomping dance beat to this song. There’s also a vibrant saxophone solo, background vocals chanting rhythmically almost like a gospel choir, and soulful piano chords – it really has everything. This song makes it almost impossible to want to do anything but dance.
It’s no secret that this song is the uplifting song of the season already – KCRW has featured their previous single How Many Times on their Morning Becomes Eclectic, and the band has already had their music featured on their Today’s Top Tune. When there is such a collaboration of talent as these two, it is no surprise that the outcome is as recognised as JJ & The Mood are. Jack Sjorgen – already a successful cartoonist, author and animator – has been praised by Oprah’s Book Club, Bustle, and Real Simple for his work. Joey Joesph, founding member of the band Pomegranates, also brings a wealth of experience and talent to the duo as a songwriter and producer who has been self-producing since 2014. In their wonderful meeting of minds so far, their song How Many Times has been featured in an ad campaign for Saks OFF 5th, and they performed their debut show at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles. Needless to say, we look forward to hearing what comes next from the duo.