Jack Peñate - Everything is New

Album Review by Euan Ferguson | 29 May 2009
Album title: Everything is New
Artist: Jack Peñate
Label: XL Recordings
Release date: 22 Jun

When Jack Peñate spasmodically sidestepped on to the scene like an epileptic crab in 2006, detractors quickly lumped him in with the jangly Mockneys dominating indie clubs at the time, along with acts like pals The Maccabees and Kate Nash. Despite the irritatingly frenetic pace of his debut album, many listeners were moved to admit that somewhere beneath the non-stop knees-up lay the work of a genuinely gifted songwriter. And with Everything is New, he’s let that songwriter out of the armlock and off the dancefloor, where he’s crafted a considered yet catchy collection of blue-eyed future soul. That affected London whine has been abandoned somewhere in a Hoxton basement and replaced with a more natural, Robert Smith-like croon. Producer Paul “Phones” Epworth has created a warm, expansive environment to win over the coldest of critics, and highlights like the title track or Tonight’s Today represent a mature and eminently likeable new Jack Peñate.

 

Playing The Bongo Club, Edinburgh on 16 June.

http://jackpenate.com