Oxford, UK-based quartet Jonquil are back with 11 new tracks of their joyous calypso-pop. Celebrated for their upbeat tempos and creative integration of afro and indie-pop, the band, fronted by Hugo Manuel (who also performs under the solo guise Chad Valley), released their radiant One Hundred Suns EP last year with Dovecote Records to much praise. NYLON applauded their “retro-tinged sound,” noting “all the songs have a timeless quality,” while WNYC lauded the “band's major chord melodies and skipping uptempo rhythms.” Comprised of Manuel, Sam Scott, Robin McDiarmid, and Dominic Hand, Jonquil has started fresh, amending their creative process. “We thought, well, let's stop and go back to how we used to work - recording in my bedroom and being a bit more abstract about it,” said Manuel. Jonquil recently returned stateside for CMJ '11, following a phenomenal US spring debut where they performed three sold-out New York sets in 48 hours and will return to the US for SXSW ’12.

Jonquil’s newest LP, Point Of Go emerges as a glimmeringly positive step in a new direction, an album that is, in their own words, "far more poppy and accessible" than anything they've previously written. Recorded over a six-week period in a farmhouse studio it takes the band's summery flourishes and intricate guitars, and strips them back to a set of immediate, direct pop songs. With influences rooted firmly in the past - from Fleetwood Mac to The Smiths, Chic and Earth, Wind and Fire to Arthur Russell - the quartet's LP is an exercise in classic pop sensibilities held up by a modern backbone. Point of Go will be released in the rest of the world by Blessing Force; a growing community of artists, musicians and writers in Oxford (UK) that involves the band's other projects Chad Valley, Pocket House and Solid Gold Dragons.

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