Personnel: Van Hunt (guitar, keyboards, drums); Van Hunt (vocals, various instruments); Bill Bottrell (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Curtis Whitehead, George Gordon (guitar); Alyssa Park, Serena McKinney, Songa Lee, Katia Popov, Robin Olson, Barbara Porter, Phillip Levy , Roberto Cain, Mario de Le?n, Sara Parkins, Mark Robertson , Joel Derouin, Sid Page, Jacqueline Brand , Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Natalie Leggett, Sarah Thornblade, Neel Hammond, Armen Garabedian, Berj Garabedian, Caroline Campbell, Endre Granat (violin); Marlow Fisher, Matthew Funes , Han Oh, Brian Dembow, Danny Seidenberg, Darrin McCann, Samuel Formicola (viola); James Freebarin-Smith, Larry Corbett, Stephen Erdody , Armen Ksadjikian, David Low (cello); Daniel Solammon, Albert Wing (horns); Elizabeth Nation, Truth Hunt (keyboards); Brian Macleod , Tracy Williams, Lorenzo Whitehead (drums).
Audio Mixer: Bill Bottrell.
Recording information: East Iris; Mouths Of Babes; Signet Sound; The Pass (Hey, Y'all!); Zero Return.
Photographers: Nathaniel Goldberg; Rick Diamond; Matt Jones .
Van Hunt's second album, ON THE JUNGLE FLOOR, finds the young singer-songwriter following an ever more ambitious and idiosyncratic path. As on his debut, he's still using a decidedly Prince-like 1980s R&B/pop-rock template as his starting point; at several points, the sexy synths, chugging guitars, and sinuous vocals evoke fond memories of 1999 (the album, not the year). Hunt doesn't leave it at that, though; JUNGLE FLOOR boasts a few straight-up rock moments as well, suggesting that he's been listening to some Strokes and Iggy Pop (the latter's "No Sense of Crime" gets a soul paint job here) amid his Morris Day and Terence Trent D'Arby sessions. Call it neo-soul if you must, but JUNGLE FLOOR represents a significant progression in the style.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.68) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Hunt's bread-and-butter is soul songs that undercut lover-man tedium with a singer-songwriter's wandering eye....ON THE JUNGLE FLOOR shows off Hunt's impressive range."
Entertainment Weekly (p.59) - "Twisty songwriting quirks, tasty guitar licks, and unexpected funk codas result in the welcome return of an original." -- Grade: A-
Q (p.113) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[H]e's an unashamedly priapic, carnally inspired loverman, but he's one with songs rather than riffs and grunts."
