Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 22/06/09
Label: XL

It got so bad for Jack Penate in 2007 that critics dispensed with calling him the emperor's new clothes and got right down to terrorising the youngster. And when it didn't get deeply personal, it was absolutely right. His Estuary-accented pop, with its "earthy" tints of ska, rockabilly and Billy Bragg, rang more hollow than MDF, what with him being a well-spoken gent from south London who went to the same fee-paying school as Florence Welch and gave the impression he didn't know what a "gritty" situation looked like. Hardly the qualifications required for becoming the voice of a generation, as he was pitched.

On his return, we can see why such a critical mauling - rather than a politely crafted "meh" - can still be so important. Though his debut album "Matinee" sold well for a short time, it obviously means more to Penate to make a record that's heard to be great rather than being herded like a cash-cow into safe, palatable fields. So, as a slew of bands heralded 18 months ago as the dawn of something new return with just a lick of paint and identikit follow-ups (read: Gossip), Penate has gutted his sound and replaced it with something expressive, warmly empathetic and, best of all, blindingly spangly.

In an interview recently, he said: "My mum rings me up all the time going, 'I've read it on the internet: it's going to be a wonderful year for Virgo - it's going to be your best year ever!'" While we hope this isn't as good as it gets, it is the kind of wide-eyed, fantastical thinking that's gone into "Everything Is New". And Penate's titular claim is bang on: out goes that lightweight, perky sarf London pop of yore and in its place are plush, euphoric pop (with a capital P, O and P), songs loaded with melancholy that tip its hat to the crushing lows and (from the reports) hedonistic highs that followed "Matinee".

Produced by a similarly rejuvenated Paul Epworth, these sleek, ever-so-slightly Balearic disco jams - some with silvery hi-life guitars ("Tonight's Today") and nutty Tropicalia ("Give Yourself Away"), others with more anthemic nous than prime-era Coldplay ("Pull My Heart Away") and the influence of existential post-punk ("Let's All Die") - suggest Penate has grown up pretty fast. And most remarkable of all, his change sounds wonderfully natural, in spite of the fashionable tools he's using.

Along with The Maccabees' latest album, "Everything is New" is enough to prove that one poor album written as a teen, as "Matinee" mostly was, doesn't mean it's all over. Far from it.

    by Chris Parkin