Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees 6 months ago
  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash 7 months ago
  • Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019 7 months ago
  • 25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11 7 months ago
  • Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: DiS Does Big Ears 8 months ago
  • IDLES Smash It In Sheffield 8 months ago
  • More bands announced for DiS partnered Fuzz Club Eindhoven 8 months ago
  • The Shape Of Punk To Come?: DiS Meets Crows 9 months ago
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

These New Puritans

Hidden

Label: Angular Records Release Date: 18/01/2010

56419
oceanRain by Bruce Porter January 11th, 2010

At some point in the planning stages, These New Puritans front man Jack Barnett must have said: 'Okay, we can either stick to our guns, make another pretty-decent record, or we can go for broke'. I mean, how else does writing a collection of songs around a bassoon come about? Bravado is always easier from the sidelines; that is, don’t dismiss the idea of making Beat Pyramid Part 2 out of hand. After all, TNPS’ debut was actually better than pretty-decent, ticking all the right electro-pop boxes. Mark E Smith vocals, scratchy Gang of Four guitars and strident synth rhythms jostled for space in a strangely evocative way. To be sure, Beat Pyramid was a promising shot across the bow, but no one could have predicted the carpet bombing TNPS intended to unleash.

Hidden announces its extravagant aspirations on the opening track, ‘Time Xone’, where somber classically-arranged oboes, clarinets and bassoons act as an overture to the upcoming ten-track symphony. The instrumental piece makes a hasty exit for the aptly entitled ‘We Want War’, which sets the stage for the darkly romantic production you’d expect to soundtrack the cinematic battlefields of Middle-Earth. Big drums reverberate and ominous keyboards lay the groundwork for a struggle of epic proportions. Barnett’s vocal cadence alternates between rapid-fire urgency and world-weary sighs. Choral harmonies, majestic horns and plinking pianos complement the latter half of the song perfectly and despite this brilliant introduction, the best is yet to come.

Discordant piano chords, xylophones and snare-drum spackle move in weird concentric circles around Barnett’s soaring vocals on ‘Hologram’. Hell, there’s even a duck whistle thrown in for good measure. It’s Field Music at their most triumphant, minus the sunny disposition. Another highlight is ‘White Chords’, the droll exclamation point near the end of the album where plodding atmospherics and Barnett’s slurred, ‘I’ve got white chords running through my body and the fur of a white cat on my back,’ are somehow transmogrified into concise and poignant declarations by the time they hit the back of your brain.

For all its touchstones to astrology, mysticism and Greek philosophy, Hidden isn’t so esoteric that it requires a liberal arts degree to keep pace. The album’s strongest attribute is the hybrid of new and old, minimalism and baroque, classical and rock music. It’s blended together so seamlessly the album defies categorisation, except to say that it’s a thoroughly modern affair. The turbulent mechanised-grime rhythms on ‘Attack Music’ and the hip-hop influences on ‘Three Thousand’ are guaranteed to be crowd favourites on some form of nightclubbing circuit or other.

Despite the handful of standout tracks, what makes Hidden unique is the way it flows as a cohesive whole. The woodwinds on ‘Canticle’ and the overlapping tribal and electronic drum patterns on ‘Drum Court’ serve as an important interlude before the curtain rises for the final act. In an era that continues to devalue the album format, they’re the type of songs you worry will stop seeing the light of day. But of course it’s these reflective moments that heighten the intensity during the action sequences and give breadth to the overall presentation.

For a band preoccupied with numbers, the risk-reward ratios of a grandiose statement-making gesture don’t add up — and yet here we are. With the possibility of disaster looming large, TNPS nevertheless exchange a proven method of guitar-accented dance electronica for a children’s choir, six-foot Japanese Taiko drums, and a 13-piece brass and woodwind ensemble. It’s an ambitious move and only the final product differentiates between folly and courage.

In the same way Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear set impossibly high standards early last year, so too it goes in 2010; only this time in the unlikely form of four youngsters from the Thames Estuary, whose biggest claim to fame thus far had been supporting the likes of Klaxons, the Kills and Crystal Castles on tour. The gambit paid off such that future TNPS reviews will almost certainly reference Hidden as their magnum opus. Say goodbye to supporting slots; TNPS are headliners from here on out.

  • 9
    Bruce Porter's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees


  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash


  • Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019


  • 25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11


  • Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: DiS Does Big Ears


  • IDLES Smash It In Sheffield



Left-arrow

Paperplain

Entering Pale Town

Mobback
56421
56442

Various

Elevator Music Volume 1

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136

    Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
  • Festival Review


    25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11

  • 106134

    Festival Review


    Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: Di...

  • 106133
  • Live Review


    IDLES Smash It In Sheffield

  • 106132

    Festival Preview


    More bands announced for DiS partnered Fuzz Clu...

  • 106131
  • Interview


    The Shape Of Punk To Come?: DiS Meets Crows

  • 106123
MORE


    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • feature


    Panic Prevention: At the drink with Jamie T

  • 14183

    feature


    The Knife: Swedish purveyors of alien synergy

  • 27337
  • Column


    DiS Does Singles 22.04.13: Daft Punk, Savages, ...

  • 89944

    DiScover


    ReDiScover: Low

  • 12734
  • In Depth


    Lou Reed: An Eu-lulu-ogy

  • 93330

    DiScussion


    Emo? Twee? In unnecessary defence of Neutral Mi...

  • 93713
  • Interview


    Ace of Bass: DiS Meets Royal Blood

  • 97097
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2019 DROWNED IN SOUND