I love how These New Puritans start off ‘Hidden’ with, “Time Xone”, a track probably intended to slow down your heart rate and send you into a brief state of relaxation before pulling the rug out from you with, “We Want War”. Heavy drum cadences and echoes run amuck on ‘Hidden’, but in a controlled, coherent manner. For an album built so heavily on the combination of sounds and countless instruments, both traditional and nontraditional, the outcome is surprisingly clean and sharp.
These New Puritans have a reputation for being somewhat clever, and there are definitely moments on ‘Hidden’ where it shows, even if ambiguously. For instance, the track “Three Thousand” starts off with the resonance of a sword being drawn, or a knife being sharpened, and is quickly followed by Barnett’s utterance of, “Three thousand thoughts in our minds / That’s when we’re slicing through time”. This sound will appear yet again on the rousing track, “Attack Music”, where it seems appropriately placed between hard hits and a haunting groan.
‘Hidden’ comes across as a well thought out album, with articulate execution. I think that the album’s industrial and ominous nature works in great compliment to the reoccurring theme of battle and altercation, as does the sparing use of lyrics.
The album has already been released in the UK, but expect ‘Hidden’ to officially be stateside on March 2nd via Domino.
Take A Listen: Orion from These New Puritans
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Download: Orion (Right click on link and select “Save Target As” in IE or “Save Link As” in Firefox)
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