Now this we hadn't been expecting. JACK PENATE arrived in a flurry of press attention and (dare we say it) hype in 2007, striking gold with the sentimental and surprisingly traditional indie guitar sounds of his successful debut album 'Matinee'.
After the heavy gigging schedule and plugging all the usual promotional holes, the next part is more difficult, of course: the 'comeback'. It's a term loaded with significance these days and any self-respecting popster daring to stay out of the fray for more than twelve months is taking unneccesary chances.
Nonetheless, I doubt many of us would have put money on Jack Penate returning with a dub'n'dance enhanced slice of House-y pop, coming stamped with the approval of the likes of Pete Tong and Rob Da Bank. I mean this is Jack Penate. He of the wide-eyed, Housemartins-style pop, right? Pull the other one.
But no, the advance notices appear to be correct. 'Tonight's Today' is a celebratory affair about staying out all night and sloughing off home with the sun coming up. Not the kind of hedonism you'd expect from this indie pin-up boy, yet amazingly it works. It's sly and sultry, gliding along on a subterranean, almost Jah Wobble-style bassline and the sort of chorus line that will take you over in spite of yourself. Yeah, the fluid weave of guitars is still there and of course the voice is instantly recognisable, though it's a little more scuffed and frayed around the edges. Judging by the dishevelled, 'morning after' look Penate is sporting on the sleeve, he seems determined to be recognised as a more worldly individual who's been round the block a few times. Oh well. Let's reserve judgement on that for now.
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'Tonight's Today', then, is a success against the grain. Not so much a case of Jack getting his groove back, but discovering he had one all along. Certainly not a case of it all going Pete Tong. As yet anyway.
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