On his 2007 debut album Matinée, London
singer-songwriter Jack Peñate came off like a lovesick
troubadour whose acoustic guitar-driven tunes fell somewhere between
overwhelming glee and heartbreaking resignation. On Everything Is
New, he takes the title quite literally, offering nine British soul
songs that pour on the handclaps and horns. “Dance away defeat/Change
has been released,” he sings on the title track, and dance he does …
and he hopes you’ll join him. With shades of disco, tropicalia,
Afrobeat and dancehall coursing through the grooves, Everything Is
New is an invitation to shake your moneymaker by this previously
over-earnest romantic. If Matinée‘s easy reference point
was Billy Bragg’s personal (not political) songs, this time it’s
new-wave soul men like ABC who drive Peñate’s latest guise.
Songs like “Pull My Heart Away,” “Be the One” and “Tonight’s Today” are
soulfully good. — Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2009.
