As a teenager, Ngonda started playing piano and listening to jazz giants like Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane, and also learned to play the drums. He later moved to Liverpool to study music, though his time there was defined less by formal training and more by joining bands and playing wherever he could, eventually leading to opportunities to open for artists like Martha Reeves. He then began releasing music on SoundCloud. This led to a record deal with Daptone Records and the release of his well-received debut album, Come Around and Love Me, which leaned heavily on the sounds of early 70s soul, drawing inspiration from artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield.
Ngonda now returns with his follow-up, Doctrine of Love, an album on which he draws instead from 50s New Orleans R&B and 60's Chicago and Detroit soul. He has described the album as a broader exploration of love, embracing longing, heartbreak, devotion, and compassion. Recorded all analog at Daptone’s New York studio, Ngonda embraced a vintage process, using classic tape machines, session musicians, and old instruments to achieve the sound he loves. While some listeners may hear history, Ngonda sees it as fresh, with the title track serving as a statement piece for his philosophy that actions should be guided by love and compassion.
Ngonda has said that every day of his life he wishes he would wake up in 1964 in Detroit recording with the The Funk Brothers, the legendary in-house band for Motown Records. You can hear it throughout Doctrine of Love, in echoes of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Tops. It’s a fitting way to honor and celebrate that era of music, and is one of the grooviest albums I've heard so far this year.
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