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Product Description
Review
On first album, Matinée, Jack Peñate showed glimpses of talent. In particular his soulful voice and melodic understanding distracted from the fact the album was a rather average collection of rockabilly-tinged indie. With the release of Everything Is New it's hard to think of another act that has made such a massive leap forward in scope and quality in the space of one album.
Every one of the nine songs on Everything Is New is a fascinating blend of genres, best broadly described as London soul.
In the steadily-paced, wondrously ethereal opener Pull My Heart Away, listeners are treated to handclaps, an immaculate tropicalia guitar riff and a huge multi-tracked vocal that highlights Peñate's vocal talents.
The album's second single Be The One then throws together Mississippi brass with a Northern Soul beat and more heartbreaking, swooping vocals. ''We asked the church to save our souls'', sings Jack and it sounds like some higher power may have been listening.
Next up the title track throws together utterly hypnotic afrobeat rhythms with carnival chants and copious studio echo. Basement Jaxx are the nearest reference point, but only if the Brixton pair were as relaxed as they are frantic.
Tonight's Today sees Jack return to religion (he's ''ringing churchbells'') and handclaps on what is unquestionably one of the finest singles of 2009. He sings about being in a daze like a man discovering the meaning of life.
So Near is yet another staggeringly soulful tune, this time a blend of niggly mandolin, four-to-the-floor beats and aching but simultaneously uplifting singing.
Every Glance takes thing down in tempo but not in quality and as a listener it's hard not to hang on every word as Jack intones, ''I've been trying my hardest to be a man''.
Peñate and producer Paul Epworth spent a year getting this album perfected in Epworth's Kensal Rise studio. It was clearly time well spent. There are no concessions to synth-pop chart fads and no unnecessary guest stars. Better yet, there is no competition because no other album released this year takes as many risks and succeeds so clearly. --Lou Thomas
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This year's biggest surprise!,
By . "Hypno Sue" (Yorkshire, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Everything Is New (Audio CD)
I don't review on Amazon very often but this album is something worth writing about. My previous opinion of Penate, I confess, was ambivolent at best.
The aptly titled 'Everything Is New' brings something completely different to the table. It's hard to believe it comes from the imagination of the same person who bored me to death two years ago with yawning mockney acoustic pop blah. The album opens with the ethereal, pounding "Pull My Heart Away", which perfectly sets the tone for the delights to come. This, along with many of the following tracks is a very heart on sleeve account of making a fresh start and taking chances. The religious allusions on 'Be The One' are also a recurring theme. Again, there is a throbbing beat and fantastic instrumentation that just has you hooked from the outset. Even the catchy break towards the end of the track gives it stand-out appeal. Tonight's Today, which has a heady, almost tribal undercurrent, is inspired by Penate's all night partying. I read one interview where he said he'd been out for so long he saw a clock with 4 on the dial and had no idea whether it was 4am or 4pm. The Balearic beats and catchy hooks continue with the title track, Everything Is New. The melting hawaiian guitar, hand claps and harmonies meld together perfectly. "Dance Away Defeat..." Penate joyously wails, and you can't help but move along with the rhythm. It conjours images of sweaty South American beach parties under the setting sun. So Near combines happy clappy with techno beats and twinkly guitars and gets better with every listen. The pace slows for Every Glance, (with Adele backing). Again, Penate's sighing vocals are given plenty of sultry echo and depth. Every Glance is one of the more lyrically sucessful tracks on the album and gives a clear idea of Penate's not-quite-fully-realised potential as a songwriter. The pace picks up again for the toe-tapping Give Yourself Away, where Penate almost yells "I dare you to do it" to a sexy, Brazilian rumba-esque backing track. Lets All Die is a chirpy little number but the rather transparent lyrics and weak structure let it down slightly. Epworth's influence redeams it, though, with shouty backing vocals and lots of noisy guitars to add interest. Body Down, the closing track, is a departure from the rest of the album, although it has the same depth and hypnotic quality. It reminds me of a Victorian nursery rhyme set to a slightly fuzzy piano, and the crashing symbols and sudden key changes give it a haunting and mellifluous appeal. This could have been a car crash album and must have felt like a huge risk for Penate. He couldn't possibly have pulled it off better, though, as every track is completely infused with his new-found sense of bravery and adventure. This is a fantastic second album, full of enigmatic, exuberant, uninhibited tracks.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cracking album,
This review is from: Everything Is New (Audio CD)
Saw jp at glasto on the beeb and liked what i saw, got the album and its 9 quality tunes. Normally a dance/electronica man myself, but this is the best album ive purchased in ages.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Under rated,
By
This review is from: Everything Is New (Audio CD)
This was one of the best albums of 09, and its sad it was all but overlooked in the end of year lists. This is funky, soulful, and much of it sounds like it was recorded in the house that Lionel Richie was dancing on the ceiling of. Great production by Epworth and great tracks, Pull My Heart Away a particular fave. Hope for more of this quality, or of course better, very soon from Penate.
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