Jack Penate has made a name for himself and made quite a scene on many an occasion in the UK, though his name is not very well known in the US. He has opened for Amy Winehouse and The Maccabees as well as toured with Adele and The Metros. He's well known for his high energy live performances and his "crazy-ass" dancing which he says he learned from Banksy. He released a single on Young Turks last year before being signed to XL Recordings. I'm telling you all of this because you are going to see a lot more of the name Jack Penate in the coming months. He just released his first full-length album on XL, titled Matinee and he is already excitedly at work on a second album. He's currently in NYC for the CMJ and spoke with NME today after a performance at the Cake Shop. He told NME that his second album is totally inspired by dancehall music, particularly Elephant Man and Lexxus. He says of his new songs:

They're going to be different to the first album. Bashment. Seriously, I love those bashment beats. I want to take that further.

Sounds like it will be an interesting album. The UK has a strong Jamaican diaspora, so it is pretty common for singer-songwriters to be exposed to and inspired by the infectious jump-up beats of bashment music. But it will still be interesting to hear Penate's take on it. It probably won't be long before we find out, either. Penate is a self-proclaimed masochistic workaholic:

It's been great and I've got so much work to do to get where I want to be, which is great. I'm obsessed with working. I love it. I'm a complete masochist, I really enjoy pain emotional, physical, whatever, so it's been quite painful in a good way.

Jack Penate plays in Philly tonight, then heads home for a UK tour.Read the full story on NME.comJack Penate:Lexxus:http://www.myspace.com/jackpenatehttp://www.jackpenate.com