Everything Is New: Jack Penate New Music
Aug. 20 2009, Published 7:22 a.m. ET
This week, British singer-songwriter Jack Penate releases his second effort, Everything Is New, and the album’s title is particularly significant to Peñate.
While most young musicians fear the dreaded sophomore slump, things happened the other way around for Penate. After a huge build up as the “Next Big Thing” in the UK in 2007, the Londoner experienced what could have been a career-destroying reception to his debut album, Matinée.
Peñate vowed not to give up, enlisting producer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party), to help him find an entirely new sound for his next album. The two men holed up in Epworth’s tiny studio for a year and experimented with a slew of sounds until they got it right.
“I got really in to Krautrock, and Brazilian funk, and Can and all those guys, and that was really fun,” Peñate tells RadarOnline.com of his varied influences. As a result, Everything Is New has an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink vibe, complete with all the bells and whistles, yet still plays like a cohesive body of work.
Fusing a variety of genres and instrumentation—including house, dub, afrobeat, jazz and dance-pop, along with brass, strings and percussion—Penate has found a fun and soulful new sound, as evidenced on the uplifting single Tonight’s Today, which manages to successfully merge a hymn-like moment into a more good-time track.
“There’s not one ounce of regret,” Penate says of risk he took on the album. “Even if the album fails, I just hope it shows people I’m not who they thought I was.”
Jack Penate kicks off his U.S. in September.
Mon 09/14/09 Philadelphia, PA, Johnny Brenda's
Tue 09/15/09 New York, NY, Mercury Lounge
Wed 09/16/09 New York, NY, Mercury Lounge
Fri 09/18/09 Washington, DC, Rock And Roll Hotel
Sat 09/19/09 Hoboken, N,J Maxwell's
Sun 09/20/09 Cambridge, MA, T.T. The Bear's
Tue 09/22/09 Montreal, QC, Petit Campus
Wed 09/23/09 Toronto, ON, Wrongbar
Fri 09/25/09 Chicago, IL, Empty Bottle
Sat 09/26/09 Minneapolis, MN, 7th Street Entry
Tue 09/29/09 Vancouver, BC, Venue
Wed 09/30/09 Seattle, WA, Neumos
Thu 10/01/09 Portland, OR, Doug Fir Lounge
Sat 10/03/09 San Francisco, CA, Bottom Of The Hill
Sun 10/04/09 Los Angeles, CA, Echo
Mon 10/05/09 San Diego, CA, The Casbah
Tue 10/06/09 Costa Mesa, CA, Detroit Bar
Wed 10/07/09 Los Angeles, CA, Spaceland