Jack Peñate (; born 2 September 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician.

Early life

Peñate was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 2 September 1984, the son of an English mother and Spanish father. His maternal grandfather was author

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

. He attended St. Olave's Preparatory School in

New Eltham New Eltham is an area of south east London, in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley. It lies south east of Eltham and north west of Sidcup. History New Eltham is a largely residential suburb of Greater London developed on former farmland ...

and

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Church of England, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Ed ...

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...

, then began studying for a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Ancient World Studies at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, but dropped out at the end of the second year as interest from record labels grew. He also was a member of the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

Career

Music

Peñate made his way up the ranks of the club and bar scene of London before he was signed by record label

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six album ...

. He released his first promo single in October 2006, " Second, Minute or Hour" along with its b-side track, "Got My Favourite". This single was released by the record label

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

(formerly Young Turks), as a 1000-only limited

7 inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

, each containing a different

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

photograph, taken of Peñate. And in April 2007 he released the "Spit at Stars EP". In addition to the title track, this featured "My Yvonne", "Cold Thin Line" and a cover of Darondo Pulliam and Darondo's "Didn't I". The CD edition of the EP also included the first song he ever wrote, "Jack of All Trades", which he wrote with his band at school called "Jack's Basement". He has appeared on XFM radio's "Xposure" and his first two singles were both Single of the Week on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

's show. On 10 August 2007, he announced that his album would be released on 1 October and be titled ''

Matinée In the performing arts, film exhibition, and other forms of entertainment, a matinée is a performance or exhibition in the afternoon (or occasionally earlier), as distinguished from the evening. Matinée may also refer to: * ''Matinée'' (album) ...

''. However, on 7 September, this date was pushed back to 8 October, because more time was needed to "finish off all the bits of artwork for the inside cover and because my neck is playing up again." Peñate also stated that "I've been told it's now in production so hopefully there won't be any more delays." The album debuted at number seven in the UK album charts. On 3 January 2009, XFM played a new track by Peñate called "

Tonight's Today "Tonight's Today" is the first single by singer-songwriter Jack Peñate from his second album ''Everything Is New''. The music video makes reference to the choreography featured in ''Windowlicker'' by Aphex Twin. Peñate told the ''NME'' that ...

", the song ended up being the first single from his second album ''

Everything Is New ''Everything Is New'' is the second album from British singer-songwriter Jack Peñate. It was released on 22 June 2009 on XL Recordings. It received much more favourable reviews than his debut ''Matinée''. The song "Every Glance" features ba ...

''. On 24 August 2009, Peñate released his single "Pull My Heart Away". This single was also available for free single of the week download on the Australian iTunes. This track was also played in the credits of the 2010 film '' Charlie St. Cloud''. He has also announced an autumn tour that will take him to cities including Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, and Manchester. On 19 January 2012, Peñate recorded the song "No One Lied". Directed by Dani Castro, shot and recorded in one take at Peñate's home; the song was uploaded to Peñate's YouTube channel after a two-year hiatus of activity since 2010. The song was not a single and Peñate left no comment on whether it would be a hint towards a new album. ''

After You After You may refer to: Songs * "After You" (Dionne Warwick song), 1979 * "After You" (Dan Seals song), 1983 * "After You" (Beverley Knight song), 2007 * "After You" (Pulp song), 2013 *" After You, Who?", a 1932 song by Cole Porter *"After You", a ...

'', the third album by Peñate, was released on 29 November 2019. "Prayer" is the first single from the album.

Live gigs and tours

At Peñate's concerts, it is customary that audience members storm the stage while the song "Torn on the Platform" is performed. One such stage invasion at the Oxford Zodiac in April 2007 resulted in a fan stealing Peñate's

distortion pedal Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

. After he realised it was missing, he proclaimed, "Whoever's got it... keep it! Just make sure you play a

Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...

through it and not a

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

!" *Peñate was featured on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

's coverage of the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

on Friday 22 June 2007. *He has appeared at the

Carling Weekend The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Two days after his performances at both festivals, he announced on a message on his MySpace that he would have to cancel two gigs the following week, due to severe damage to his throat which also resulted in him reducing his set length at the previous weekend's Carling Weekend. *On 8 December 2007 he performed on the '' Later... with Jools Holland'' show sharing a bill with David Gray,

Rilo Kiley Rilo Kiley ( ) was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock. The group released their debut album ''Take-Offs and Landings'' ...

The Coral The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral'', from which came the single " Dreaming of You", was nominated for ...

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

, amongst others. *During the summer of 2008, Jack Peñate played several live concerts with guest guitars from old school friend Felix White. This included Peñate's set at

of August this year. *Peñate has played gigs all over the UK on tour and has previously shared dates with his good friends

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

, and The Maccabees. Peñate played at the 2007

Oxegen Oxegen was a music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festival, and, by 2009, it was being ci ...

festival in Kildare, Ireland. *Peñate was one of the contributors to the " Janie Jones" charity cover single. *He was featured at music night 'Songs in the Dark' run by

Jeremy Warmsley Jeremy Warmsley is a London-based musician and composer. Biography From 2005 to 2009, he worked as a solo artist, recording two albums for Transgressive Records and touring with Regina Spektor and The Shins. Since 2009 he has worked with his wi ...

and Simon Mastrantone. *Jack Peñate performed a cover of

La Roux La Roux ( ) is an English synthpop act formed in 2008 by singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. The act's debut album ''La Roux'' (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles suc ...

's "

Bulletproof Bulletproofing is the process of making an object capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles (e.g. shrapnel). The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protectio ...

" at the Radio 1 Live Lounge. *On 3 July 2009, he played at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, ...

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, as part of the iTunes live festivals month. *Throughout Peñate's second album tour in 2009, his bandmates included

Jessie Ware Jessica Lois Ware (born 15 October 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and broadcaster. Ware came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, ''Devotion'' (2012), which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, produce ...

on backing vocals,

Kwes Kwes (; sometimes stylised as ''kwes'', ''kwes.'', ''Kwes.'' or '' =o'' ) is a British music producer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and released his debut album, '' ilp'' in October 2013. ...

Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...

on keyboards / laptop and Tic of the record label

on rhythm guitar. *Jack Peñate, alo with

Chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

, opened for

The xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), a ...

at the Central Park Summer Stage on Sunday 8 August 2010.

Personal life

Peñate is a long-time close friend of

, with whom he grew up.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website
*
Official widget

''Everything Is New'', Pitchfork review

''Everything Is New'', The Guardian review

''Everything Is New'', The Sunday Times review

The Times: Jack Penate takes on Lily Allen and Adele; 28 March 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penate, Jack 1984 births Living people English male singer-songwriters People from Blackheath, London English people of Spanish descent People educated at Alleyn's School Alumni of University College London XL Recordings artists National Youth Theatre members 21st-century British singers 21st-century British male singers