Jack Peñate – Everything Is New
For his sophomore album, Jack Peñate gleans an eager exhuberance from adventurous song-crafting, relinquishing the sweet UK pop of his debut for a heavy dabbling in Afro-pop melodies and rhythms. Its difficult to pin down what makes the album as appealing as it is. Maybe its the unabashedly good-nature sentiment that runs through it (as un-cool as cheerfulness can be). But the guiding hands of producer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party) has positioned Jack Peñate as a late summer delight, as each song arrives full-formed and contagiously familiar. “Everything Is New” revives the overblown instrumentations of Congotronics and along with “Tonight’s Today”, both mine the bubbly vibrance last heard on Vampire Weekend’s debut, with a healthy dose of handclaps to keep the beat alive. The tropics infuses “So Near”, as clipped high-life guitars pair with a piano to mimic the tinny ding of a steel drum. And Jack Peñate’s cockney accent consistently slips into Robert Smith adulation, which only adds to the fun. Worth a listen.
Listen To: Tonight’s Today
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