What is the formula for a brilliantly confusing slice of art-rock? With ‘Hidden’, These New Puritans’ sophomore album, this Essex quintet seems to have cracked it. Confusing because this album is so incredibly pretentious, unwelcoming and abrasive, yet nestles firmly in the “quite possibly genius” section of your brain while you aren’t looking. Two minutes of woodwind drones form the alluring introduction ‘Time Xone’, reminiscent of a depressed Salvation Army band, a theme carried throughout the album. Hidden’s second theme then rudely interrupts as a crushingly meaty drum, gradually increasing in protein value, pounds its way to your immediate attention. The thunderous yet delicately original beats displayed in this album are far “nastier” than any commercial Hip-Hop of recent times, that’s for sure. While there are hints of similarity to Bloc Party’s latest full length in songs such as ‘Attack Music’, this is so fit to burst with originality, bravery and violent mood swings that comparisons become very forced. We need more albums that cause this much confusion. The last album that comes to mind for doing so was Radiohead’s confirmation as musical greats, ‘Kid A’. What better sign of things to come could there be?
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