I've Been in Love with Jungle
Still from Jungle’s “Back On 74” music video choreographed by Shay Latukolan.
Lately, TikTok has madly fallen in love with the latest music video for “Back on 74,” the new single by Jungle. In recent years, pop culture has been significantly influenced by cultural movements that celebrate diversity and challenge standard societal norms. The “Back on 74” video encapsulates multiple social messages, cleverly disguised within it. The dynamic choreographies, reminiscent of Fosse's style with fluid and contemporary movements, paint a story that exudes freshness and authenticity. Individual expression and the freedom to be oneself without constraints are key elements that undermine standard thoughts, depicting both women and men as free from gender stereotypes and breaking down the barriers of toxic masculinity. The video’s atmosphere and environment closely resemble the American ballroom scene, where people freely express their gender and sexual identities through dance, costumes, and art. In fact, the video is not only a celebration of diversity but also a triumph of trends: the main characters of the video are the 70s look, which immediately takes us back to 2023, as thrifted fashion has gained popularity in recent years.
The song has provided a soundtrack for a new era of gender expression, sparking a social revolution that has brought together users from all over the world into one large community that supports each other despite being strangers. I’ve been in Milan to watch them perform live, and everything they portray in their music hits the mark: there were about 3,000 people (which is a lot for a club concert) just following the groove and dancing. Club music is becoming a social message again, fulfilling a long-time need. It’s a nod to a world that, in a time of crisis like the one we are currently experiencing, takes us back to those serene and sparkly environments, distracting us from our surrounding realities. The Milan concert was a real party, the perfect replica of the “Back on 74” music video, which is more than a song or a simple music video: it's a cry for freedom, a hymn to authenticity, and it has the power to break down inequalities and inspire thousands of young people, inviting them to unleash their inner selves.
Everyone was crying, getting drunk, singing, and screaming, just moving and dancing along with the band that engaged everyone with its energy, recreating the atmosphere of a New Year’s Eve at your best friend’s house, even though you were in a club with over 3,000 strangers. At the end of the gig, a curated playlist played, and everyone danced to the 80s anthems, hyping each other up, which was surely Jungle’s goal: to make people connect, heart, body, and soul, thanks to the music. Everyone felt part of something by letting themselves be carried away by the music and moving their bodies because there’s nothing else to do: when you gotta dance, you dance.
