Just Jack - All Night Cinema

has a tough task on his hands. Having created 2007’s bounciest, pop festival tune ‘Starz In Their Eyes’, he must have thought he had the Radio One playlist in the palm of his hand. However, his poor follow-up singles and painfully inadequate album ‘Overtones’ were stodgy, awkward and bland. Remember ‘Glory Days’? Probably best not to.

The task of his third studio album ‘All Night Cinema’ is to prove that he is more than a one hit wonder and, boy, he sure did hit us with this wonder. Jack has kept his witty observationalism, but has experimented with different tempos and instruments to produce an LP that packs as much punch as a drunk, angered kangaroo wearing boxing gloves.

Lead single ‘Embers’ combines hand claps, violins and a subtle bassline to construct a theatric and haunting melody, while ‘Doctor Doctor’ lays a dubstep beat under revving guitars, fuzzy electronica and a desperate desire to chat up an attractive girl who he knows has primarily ‘sawdust’ between her ears. The only partial clanger seems to be ‘Astronaut’, which falls a bit flat with its gnawing guitar riff and simpering vocals, with Jack constantly throwing in space analogies to force home that the song’s protagonist has always dreamed of being a space cadet. Tell it to NASA, mate.