Wednesday 10.07.09: Club NME with JACK PENATE / MIIKE SNOW

Posted by Brianna - filed in Events

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Jack Penate has responded by junking his previous incarnation, finding a sympathetic producer in Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park) and re-emerging with an album of good-natured, more-ish dance-pop, its multi-layered sound so unexpected that Matinee now seems like the work of someone else entirely. Once noted for his strange knock-kneed dance moves, Peñate has suddenly found a sense of rhythm; recent single Today’s Tonight merges Afrobeat and house music, while Give Yourself Away piles on the samba drums and squalling guitars, suggesting recent discovery of the Santana back catalogue.

There are trumpets, strings, a barrage of percussion and all manner of instrumental flourishes that might have left Peñate, in his eagerness to reinvent himself, mired in self-indulgence. Despite the broader palette, there’s no sign of bloating and the album comes in at just nine tracks, all of them punchy, and in their lyrical and sonic optimism, defiantly pop. The title track is both hymn to the joy of seeing the world through less jaundiced eyes and faintly autobiographical, given its chorus of “everything is new now/dance away defeat”, and the overarching mood is of facing down your fears. That includes the biggest one of all, as Let’s All Die celebrates the arrival of the grim reaper by breaking out the party hats, its mariachi brass and rattling drums equal parts Mexican Day of the Dead and New Orleans funeral march.

After a few listens to Everything is New, it’s clear the title is no plea to be forgiven for past sins. Skins have been shed, batteries recharged and the traditionally difficult second album dashed out with apparent ease. Of all the young artists that might have managed that feat, who’d have thought it would be this one? – The Guardian UK

With:
Miike Snow