Review

The timing of debut album Matinée was somewhat unfortunate, Jack Peñate becoming associated with the LDN crew just as its squawky social realism was becoming tiresome. He was widely dismissed as a lucky scenester riding the coattails of acts such as Lily Allen, The Maccabees and Kate Nash. However, with Everything Is New, we see Peñate carve his own path with a new sound and a new image. Gone is the frantic rockabilly-indie-by-numbers of before and in its stead is lavish production – courtesy of Paul Epworth – tropical drums and future soul. ‘Pull My Heart Away’, ‘Tonight’s Today’ and ‘Every Glance’ are perfect examples of his new oeuvre; grandiose without sounding pompous and steeped in a pained melancholia that recalls Robert Smith. Perhaps not one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of 2009, Everything Is New has turned out to be one of the most surprising. Philip Taggart

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DOWNLOAD: ‘TONIGHT’S TODAY’, ‘EVERY GLANCE’, ‘SO NEAR’.
FOR FANS OF: FATBOY SLIM, GUILLEMOTS, FRIENDLY FIRES.

Posted on: July 27, 2009