The New Music

Jack Peñate turned some heads in 2007 with songs like “Spit At Stars” and “Torn On The Platform” that had many, or at least, me hailing him as this generation’s Billy Bragg. Okay, so he wasn’t exactly a politico fighting for miners rights, but he had a zippy pop style and knack for storytelling that left me comparing the two Londoners.

But Jack’s debut album, Matinée, left me feeling a bit empty and thinking he would forever be remembered only for his early singles. And so here comes that lesson I keep learning that I shouldn’t be so quite to write off a career based on the debut album.

For his follow-up, Jack sought the production wizardry of Paul Epworth, who famously manned the boards for the first albums of Bloc Party, Futureheads, Friendly Fires and most recently, Florence and the Machine, and the decision seems to have done wonders.

Everything Is New, his bio reads, is “in short, a soul record.” But only on the inside. On the outside it’s a perky listen that is chock full of colours, distinct international flavours and heaps of woeful melody.

With Epworth’s guidance, Jack gathered a ridiculous amount of influences that became a self-proclaimed mash up of “Brazilian Tropicalia, Krautrock, New Orleans marching bands, Bashment, Afrobeat, lo-fi hip-hop, gospel, Reggaeton and Philly Soul.” Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and normally this kind of genre dabbling ends with messy results, but Jack Peñate somehow manages to pull it all together.

Single Tonight’s Today jumps aboard the Caribbean bandwagon for a shuffling tropical vibe that would make Vampire Weekend a bit jealous. Be the One, on the other hand, uses soul as a foundation the way Primal Scream did with Screamadelica’s “Come Together. And Let’s All Die calls on a commanding Afrocentric rhythm section to make meeting your maker seem like a fine idea.

Never has a voice this melancholic sounded so pleased to be miserable. And with such a skip in his step you’re left wondering if he wrote this for the Cure as a sequel to Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, which really is one of the greatest compliments I could ever give to a record.

Listen to it here.

Artist: Jack Peñate
Album: Everything Is New
Release Date: August 18, 2009
Label: XL Recordings
Genre: Indie Pop/Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay

Track Listing:

1. Pull My Heart Away
2. Be The One
3. Everything Is New
4. Tonight’s Today
5. So Near
6. Every Glance
7. Give Yourself Away
8. Let’s All Die
9. Body Down

Tags: first spin, jack penate

Posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 4:10 pm by Alberto and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.

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