The Jungle Giants are back! After 18 months off the radar, the Meanjin/Brisbane four-piece have just returned to the spotlight with ‘Hold My Hand’, the first taste of their upcoming fifth album. It’s a song shaped by upheaval after frontman Sam Hales spent the past few years reeling from the end of a decade-long relationship, recovering from a jet-ski accident, and sifting through what it all meant.
“These are all beautiful, beautiful, positive memories that changed me for the better. It was just really hard to figure out a way to write about it and figure out a way to define how I felt. This song really helped open up a lot of the writing for the album. All the songs I wrote before weren’t feeling real enough. Once I landed on ‘Hold My Hand’, a lot of things fell into place for me. I had this real emotional reaction to it.”
Hales found his way in by leaning into feeling over precision. Bouncy with a mantra-like chorus repeating the title in a way that feels almost desperate, like grasping for something slipping through your fingers, it’s the kind of track built to land hard in a live setting, where a crowd can lock into a shared emotion together – A soon-to-be festival classic.
The band are taking the album across the country this April for their first capital city tour in over two years bringing along one of Australia’s current faves Sycco (and extended family!) for a DJ set at each stop. It’ll be their only Australian run for the year, setting the stage for the full album’s arrival later in 2025.
Fronted by Sam Hales (vocalist/ guitarist/ songwriter/ producer), with lead guitarist Cesira Aitken, bassist Andrew Dooris and drummer Keelan Bijker, The Jungle Giants have evolved from regular indie rockers to a genre-fluid, dance-pop powerhouse, blending alt-pop, rock, and electronic textures. They’ve racked up nearly a billion streams, landed a #1 ARIA-charting album, and played to packed rooms across the world.
“Things have changed, but there’s beauty to all this,” Hales says. “I wouldn’t do anything differently.”
AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Get access to pre-sale tickets here
General on sale Monday 10 February 10am AEDT
Fri 4 Apr – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Sat 5 Apr – Newcastle Uni, Newcastle
Sat 12 Apr – Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
Sun 13 Apr – The Pier, Frankston
Fri 25 Apr – The Tivoli, Brisbane
Sat 26 Apr – Hotel Brunswick, Brunswick Head
Photo credit: Byron Spencer
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