I don't review on Amazon very often but this album is something worth writing about. My previous opinion of Penate, I confess, was ambivolent at best.

The aptly titled 'Everything Is New' brings something completely different to the table. It's hard to believe it comes from the imagination of the same person who bored me to death two years ago with yawning mockney acoustic pop blah.

The album opens with the ethereal, pounding "Pull My Heart Away", which perfectly sets the tone for the delights to come. This, along with many of the following tracks is a very heart on sleeve account of making a fresh start and taking chances.

The religious allusions on 'Be The One' are also a recurring theme. Again, there is a throbbing beat and fantastic instrumentation that just has you hooked from the outset. Even the catchy break towards the end of the track gives it stand-out appeal.

Tonight's Today, which has a heady, almost tribal undercurrent, is inspired by Penate's all night partying. I read one interview where he said he'd been out for so long he saw a clock with 4 on the dial and had no idea whether it was 4am or 4pm.

The Balearic beats and catchy hooks continue with the title track, Everything Is New. The melting hawaiian guitar, hand claps and harmonies meld together perfectly. "Dance Away Defeat..." Penate joyously wails, and you can't help but move along with the rhythm. It conjours images of sweaty South American beach parties under the setting sun.

So Near combines happy clappy with techno beats and twinkly guitars and gets better with every listen.

The pace slows for Every Glance, (with Adele backing). Again, Penate's sighing vocals are given plenty of sultry echo and depth. Every Glance is one of the more lyrically sucessful tracks on the album and gives a clear idea of Penate's not-quite-fully-realised potential as a songwriter.

The pace picks up again for the toe-tapping Give Yourself Away, where Penate almost yells "I dare you to do it" to a sexy, Brazilian rumba-esque backing track.

Lets All Die is a chirpy little number but the rather transparent lyrics and weak structure let it down slightly. Epworth's influence redeams it, though, with shouty backing vocals and lots of noisy guitars to add interest.

Body Down, the closing track, is a departure from the rest of the album, although it has the same depth and hypnotic quality. It reminds me of a Victorian nursery rhyme set to a slightly fuzzy piano, and the crashing symbols and sudden key changes give it a haunting and mellifluous appeal.

This could have been a car crash album and must have felt like a huge risk for Penate. He couldn't possibly have pulled it off better, though, as every track is completely infused with his new-found sense of bravery and adventure.

This is a fantastic second album, full of enigmatic, exuberant, uninhibited tracks.

Saw jp at glasto on the beeb and liked what i saw, got the album and its 9 quality tunes. Normally a dance/electronica man myself, but this is the best album ive purchased in ages.

After really liking Jack's first album Matinee, I was thrilled to see he had a new one coming out. Then I saw him at Radio 1's Big Weekend and he played a few of his new tracks which didn't sound as great as his old ones such as Torn On the Platform, Second, Minute or Hour etc. I pre-ordered the album a week before it's release conscious of the fact it only had 9 tracks which is probably the least I have seen on an album in a while. It arrived 3 Days before it was even released which amazed me and overall it's pretty good. It's a lot different from his first album which is more acoustic and rock- this has a range of styles of music. There are some great songs even though there are only 9 on the album. Tonight's Today was a great choice to release as first single as it is catchy and lyrically clever. Pull My Heart Away, Be The One and So Near stand out as great tracks. Let's All Die- despite having strange lyrics has great music and gets you hooked and Body Down is a good way to finish. I've only given in 4 stars as:
1. It isn't my album of the year as Franz Ferdinand- Tonight still get's my vote and with JET, The Cribs and Idlewild coming with new albums it could still fall.
2. It only has 9 tracks which isn't many. If it had more then it maybe would get 5. Seeing as it has been 2 years since his first album I was expecting something brilliant as Kings Of Leon had a 1 year gap from their previous album and then released a worldwide blockbuster of an album.
It is different from his first album so it may be a surprise but it is still great music just different from the fast paced guitar and drumming we heard from Matinee.

I have listened to a preview copy of this album. I can't say I was ever a fan of Penate's last album. It was a bit rubbish, frankly, The kind of mass-market landfill that's here today, gone tomorrow. Between 2007 and 2009, Penate has undergone something of a radical reinvention. Everything IS New, indeed.

This record is nine songs of wide-eyed pure musical joy mixing up a huge array of sounds you don't hear on your average pop LP: African rhythms, Ibiza beats, fuzzy guitars, samples, choirs ... It has clearly been inspired by Vampire Weekend - and it's none the worse for it.

Good first track but the rest becomes formulaic, whiny and a little pretentious. Ultimately a dull and disappointing album which, unlike many, seems to become more tedious with each listen.