Jack Penate arrives at Reading fresh from playing Belgium and Holland which, he tells Spinner, were some of the "best, full on festival experiences." Jack's songs are going down really well in Europe, and he's in a buoyant mood as he talks in advance of his mid-afternoon NME/Radio 1 slot.

Jack Penate's new record 'Everything Is New' does exactly that -- in opener 'Pull My Heart Away,' he's "ripping down posters ... moving the boxes into the hall" -- a not so thinly-disguised metaphor for a considerable change in musical direction. Whereas his 2007 debut, 'Matinee,' was all jangly rockabilly guitars, 'Everything Is New' is a spacious, mature pop record with multiple vocal layers and rich reverb.

"I can't understand artists who stay the same. I'm constantly changing," he says. "After 'Matinee,' I was stuck. I felt generic, and I'd held back too much in the production process."

In the making of this album, co-produced by Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Maximo Park, the Rapture), Jack experimented with Afrobeat, "loads of reverb and continuous beats," as well as his passion for the songwriting of Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley. "I wanted to make a record that surrounds you rather than being in your face," he tells Spinner.

Jack's new-found inspiration is evident onstage -- he jumps around with uncontainable energy. Kicking off with the sublime pop of 'So Near,' new songs 'Be the One,' 'Everything Is New,' 'Pull My Heart Away,' 'Tonight's Today' and 'Let's All Die' get a full-on rapturous reception from the sizeable Reading crowd.

A couple more UK festivals and Jack's off for a three-week tour of the US and Canada. He can't wait to take his 'New' show Stateside.