Jack Penate — Everything Is New

Smaltzy Brit songwriter Jack Penate isn't quite as inoffensive as blokes like David Gray and Damien Rice but it's not for lack of trying. His new album, Everything Is New, carefully treads the MOR party line and comes out the other side with some stink affixed — part disco, part Elton John and part vapid Top 40. At its top dollar best, this album chugs along nicely in a fun, dance-y fashion as the slightly Stones Roses-esque title track demonstrates. And yet at its worse, the album retreats into a large vat of embarrassment — "Every Glance" recalls late period Roxy Music and in the absolute worse way. Penate is quite popular in his homeland and while he's not without merit as a songwriter and vocalist, it's hard to see this ordinary output making much of a ripple in North America. At least with this album.

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