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Interviewed around the time of These New Puritans’ debut album Beat Pyramid back in January 2008, frontman Jack Barnett wasn’t dwelling on the past, but looking to the future. The band’s new material, he exhorted, sounded “like dancehall meets Steve Reich” and went on to claim “I’ve been writing a lot of music for bassoon.”
At the time, this probably elicited a few sniggers; another group of indie wastrels whose ideas far outstripped their ability. But there was enough to Beat Pyramid to suggest this young Southend-on-Sea band had a rather good idea of what they were doing.
Now their second album arrives, and impressively it turns out that Barnett’s blue-sky dreaming is actually a pretty accurate description of Hidden – heavily beat-driven, almost entirely absent of guitars, and laced with large amounts of elaborately arranged woodwind and brass.
Does it work? Largely, yes – nowhere better than on We Want War, which kicks off the album following a short introduction. Seven minutes of tinny synthesised horns, droning bassoon, vaguely Timbaland drums and wood-on-wood clacks, it drifts in an eerie limbo between Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and Liars’ witchier material, and then chucks in a choir as well for good measure. Hidden, you feel, is not intended to be easily palatable.
Attack Music winds in the sound of breaking glass and drawn swords amidst crunchy digital dancehall beats. Fire–Power finds Barnett chanting “This is a mind attack / This is a world attack!” over naked, crashing drums. A rare moment of prettiness comes on Hologram, a drum stomp dressed up in twinkling piano and intimate, poignant vocals. Elsewhere, the mood is pagan, hallucinogenic, severe.
But there is plenty of focus here. Barnett has taken pains to explain his band are “anti-experimental”, by which he presumably means he’s fundamentally opposed to musicians floundering around in the hope they might accidentally do something interesting. These New Puritans, meanwhile, sound utterly exact, precise. It’s not out to please you, but Hidden is well worthy of investigation. --Louis Pattison
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
These New Puritans first arrived with some very low-fi strange stop/start almost shouty indie around 3 or 4 years ago. There was something interesting about them then and their first album was interesting but never likely to change the world. It was the kind of album which could lead them to something of a musical cul-de-sac. So I didn't expect much from sophomore effort "Hidden". There is still a similar approach to the vocals here and some of the writing mirrors the first album, the familiar should check out "Attack Music" and "Fire-Power" to see this, but that's really where the similarities end.
The band admit they were inspired by Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" and the music of Steve Reich and the result isn't so much a transformation, it's an absolute revolution. Sonically ambitious this blends almost everything from drumming remenicesnt of Japanese Kodo, ornate brass and string arrangements, a children's choir, hints at classical minimalism, occasionl nods to something close to industrial bands such as Test Department it fuses indie, electronics, and a whole lot more. Challenging and brilliant lead single "We Want War" sums it up beautifully darkly crahsing unrelentingly through its seven minutes. It will undoubtedly alienate a number of fans of the first album yet those who like the ambitions of Owen Pallett's Heartland will probably understand this album immediately. There is also a sense of dread and numerous allusions to war throughout the album add to the dark sense of foreboding here.
Like it or not These New Puritans have produced a compelling and distinctive second album with many highlights. From the dripping precussive "5" which sounds straight out of the Steve Reich school of classicism to "Orion" which sounds like an industrial/operatic mash up. The album constantly surprises. If your ears are open enough to take in its ambitions then this might well end up on your best of year lists. It's the first serious contender for the Mercury Prize, a thoughtful, challenging work of considerable substance. Worth 5 stars for ambition alone, this is bold work from a band who have demonstrated that they could be artists of real significance. It's not going to be universally loved but those who do may consider it something of a masterpiece.
The band admit they were inspired by Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" and the music of Steve Reich and the result isn't so much a transformation, it's an absolute revolution. Sonically ambitious this blends almost everything from drumming remenicesnt of Japanese Kodo, ornate brass and string arrangements, a children's choir, hints at classical minimalism, occasionl nods to something close to industrial bands such as Test Department it fuses indie, electronics, and a whole lot more. Challenging and brilliant lead single "We Want War" sums it up beautifully darkly crahsing unrelentingly through its seven minutes. It will undoubtedly alienate a number of fans of the first album yet those who like the ambitions of Owen Pallett's Heartland will probably understand this album immediately. There is also a sense of dread and numerous allusions to war throughout the album add to the dark sense of foreboding here.
Like it or not These New Puritans have produced a compelling and distinctive second album with many highlights. From the dripping precussive "5" which sounds straight out of the Steve Reich school of classicism to "Orion" which sounds like an industrial/operatic mash up. The album constantly surprises. If your ears are open enough to take in its ambitions then this might well end up on your best of year lists. It's the first serious contender for the Mercury Prize, a thoughtful, challenging work of considerable substance. Worth 5 stars for ambition alone, this is bold work from a band who have demonstrated that they could be artists of real significance. It's not going to be universally loved but those who do may consider it something of a masterpiece.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
These New Puritans have done something amazing. Whilst everyone is raving about Vampire Weekend and Delphic at the start of the year they have crept in and produced something totally and utterly original that is stunning in every way. Their debut had moments of brilliance but at times seemed to lack a bit of focus for me. This though is a different beast.
Opener `Time Xone' acts like an overture before `We Want War' breaks down all your expectations and reshapes them into a dark and malicious beast. It is a devastatingly confident start for a very young group of musicians. `Three Thousand' then continues the ominous drone of the previous track with some similarly creepy keyboard work balancing vocals which are more chant than song. The atmosphere is there maintained and emphasised brilliantly on this concise track. `Hologram' then acts as a counterpoint to the apocalyptic feel of the opening few tracks. It appears more upbeat and positive but underneath there is a strange sense of confinement like this is the sound of those hoping in vain for a better tomorrow. This idea is then exaggerated by the return to a more menacing sound in `Attack Music'.
`Fire-Power' follows with like a distorted and strangely desperate fight between two panicked enemies who do not quite know why they are fighting. It therefore has a strange and unnerving atmosphere. This is followed by the more definite direction of `Orion'. Here drum lines are initially punctuated and then surrounded by initially truncated and then swelling choral parts and synths. `Canticle' then offers another moment of relative peace and clarity from the brooding menace of the rest of the album. Sure enough then `Drum Courts-Where Corals Lie' returns to a more intense sound with a driving drum line, soft organ sweeps and vocals like the chant of a madman. Moments of calm in the song are followed by a return to the intense drumming with greater layering and depth which helps to emphasise the calm insanity of it.
`White Chords' has a strangely quiet introspection to it which really stands out compared to the relative intensity of the rest of the album. None the less the moments of sweeping instrumentation towards the end are wonderfully calculated and emotional. This is the sound of a young band with musical maturity beyond their years, and the bouncing and happy counterpoint presented by `5' at the end of the album reflects this, with interesting orchestration balancing twinkling rhythms and deep ominous sweeps.
The whole album then is an extraordinary experience. Diverse and mature it is a joy to listen to and I expect to find more and more details in the tracks as I listen to it long into the future. It is simply stunning.
Opener `Time Xone' acts like an overture before `We Want War' breaks down all your expectations and reshapes them into a dark and malicious beast. It is a devastatingly confident start for a very young group of musicians. `Three Thousand' then continues the ominous drone of the previous track with some similarly creepy keyboard work balancing vocals which are more chant than song. The atmosphere is there maintained and emphasised brilliantly on this concise track. `Hologram' then acts as a counterpoint to the apocalyptic feel of the opening few tracks. It appears more upbeat and positive but underneath there is a strange sense of confinement like this is the sound of those hoping in vain for a better tomorrow. This idea is then exaggerated by the return to a more menacing sound in `Attack Music'.
`Fire-Power' follows with like a distorted and strangely desperate fight between two panicked enemies who do not quite know why they are fighting. It therefore has a strange and unnerving atmosphere. This is followed by the more definite direction of `Orion'. Here drum lines are initially punctuated and then surrounded by initially truncated and then swelling choral parts and synths. `Canticle' then offers another moment of relative peace and clarity from the brooding menace of the rest of the album. Sure enough then `Drum Courts-Where Corals Lie' returns to a more intense sound with a driving drum line, soft organ sweeps and vocals like the chant of a madman. Moments of calm in the song are followed by a return to the intense drumming with greater layering and depth which helps to emphasise the calm insanity of it.
`White Chords' has a strangely quiet introspection to it which really stands out compared to the relative intensity of the rest of the album. None the less the moments of sweeping instrumentation towards the end are wonderfully calculated and emotional. This is the sound of a young band with musical maturity beyond their years, and the bouncing and happy counterpoint presented by `5' at the end of the album reflects this, with interesting orchestration balancing twinkling rhythms and deep ominous sweeps.
The whole album then is an extraordinary experience. Diverse and mature it is a joy to listen to and I expect to find more and more details in the tracks as I listen to it long into the future. It is simply stunning.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There are bucket loads of ideas here, at times their ambition does over leap their ability to pull them off. It can all sound rather disconcertingly 'nouveau fascistic' with all that heavy drumming and twirling naked torsos in the video for We Want War. However, this is the outstanding track of this album, by which everything else pales meekly and quivers. I have heard stuff exploring this drum crashing arena before - some of it arty, left wing,interesting but challenging to hear i.e. Holger Hiller, Test Department & Einstürzende Neubauten, and some of it flirts rather casually with extreme right wing style and imagery i.e. Rammstein & Laibache. Don't know where these guys place themselves politically, but mostly they steer clear of outright musical pretension, but they often come too close at times for aural comfort.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Bleak and intricate puzzle
This ambitious merging of frenzied tribal African rhythms and rituals, syncopated 'dub' beats, neoclassical elements, chamber music, heavy-metal riffs and church-operatic choirs,... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Daniel Margrain
This album could change your life!
Sometimes an album comes along that is totally at odds with everything you are listening to or have ever heard. Think Unknown Pleasures or Trout Mask Replica. Read more
Published 14 months ago by A. C. Scott
...Here we go up into the stars.
Cue Puritans main man Jack Barnett's all natural murmur being fazed to give way to some epic and grandiose choral melodies that reach celestial levels in pitch. Read more
Published 15 months ago by C. J. Wilson
Bit of a gem
A highly ambitious project from TNP that they almost pull off perfectly. Percussion-heavy arrangements create a driving, powerful sound throughout. Read more
Published 16 months ago by capnpookie
Great to Good
I admit it...got it on stregth of no 1 position in NME's albums of the year - always dangerous - and knew little of TNP before. So coming at this fresh but with expectation. Read more
Published 16 months ago by LRN
Incredible 2nd Album, so many influences and so many great surprises
After witnessing this band at Offset Festival 2010 I bought this album and it really is an incredibly ambitious album that took just a couple of listens to wamr to and a couple... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Tom
Annoying & trite
Imagine Terry Hall circa Fun Boy Three singing,without irony,humor or pathos
over electonic samples and you've got it
The reviewer who said "he didn't get it" and that... Read more
over electonic samples and you've got it
The reviewer who said "he didn't get it" and that... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mj Elton
Fantastic
Hidden is a great album, one of the best of the year 2010, all the songs are very good and original! Last year i was surprised with XX and this year with These New Puritans! Read more
Published 18 months ago by Sara Sousa Silva
proper original stuff for a change
Lets face it, how many albums really push the boat out and try to take some risks.
Not many. This does. And that will do for me. Read more
Not many. This does. And that will do for me. Read more
Published on 27 May 2010 by andy east
A masterclass in genre-hopping orginality
At the very least a startling achievement in genre dynamics, asserting that 'Hidden' successfully melds Hot Chip glitchery with drum `n' bass aggression and schizophrenic... Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by J. Lachno
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