These New Puritans - 'Hidden' (Angular) Released 18/01/10

If both Wild Beasts and The Horrors dispelled the age-old myth last year that making a credible second album can be decidedly more difficult than its predecessor, then These New Puritans have reneged on rock and roll’s silliest myth with gleeful abandon. While 2008’s ‘Beat Pyramid’ was a bold step forward from their earlier singles that found themselves lumped in with the “nu rave” scene of Klaxons, Shitdisco et al, it didn’t quite possess the depth or longevity to go with its creators’ obvious ambition. Indeed as perky and exuberant as ‘Elvis and co. sounded back then, its debatable whether any of that record with the exception of maybe ‘Swords Of Truth’ would seem relevant just two years later.

It is to their credit then that ‘Hidden’ isn’t so much of a giant leap forward, but actually feels like it could have fallen to earth from another planet entirely. To be fair, These New Puritans have always been full of surprises, even as far back as 2007’s mammoth twelve-and-a-half minute opus ‘Navigate Navigate’, which instantly set them apart from the aforementioned cluster of dance infused combos. While the obvious influences of The Fall and Gang Of Four – possibly more to do with Jack Barnett’s nascent vocal than anything else – were plain for all to see, their intentions obviously went far beyond the realms of indie’s tradrock comfort zone.

Across its eleven pieces, ‘Hidden’ doesn’t merely confound expectations; it actually draws the blueprint for future standards, and simply elevates These New Puritans leagues above the majority of their contemporaries still stuck in the rehearsal room trying to recreate the summer of 2007. Going back to ‘Swords Of Truth’, the superlative stand out from ‘Beat Pyramid’ that sounded like nothing else around at the time, there was always the belief then that if TNP could strike up the same formula across an entire album they’d end up with one hell of a record.

Well here it is, in its entire glory. The neo-classical strains of ‘Time Xone’ and ‘5’ that open and close ‘Hidden’ link the interior contents together succinctly, and once inside the heart of the album, it’s a dazzling array of delights that astounds with every subsequent listen. Lead single ‘We Want War’ announced their intentions at the tail end of last year, its eastern tinged rhythms coupled with a dubstep undercarriage across seven minutes of incessant twists and turns whetting the appetite in glorious fashion. For most outfits this would be their call to arms, their pinnacle piece de resistance that future compositions would adhere to. Here though, its not even the best track on the record by a long shot, completely usurped by ‘Attack Music’’s grime soaked hip hop or ‘Fire – Power’’s diligent, beat laden pop, Barnett’s repeated hookline of “my words evaporate” embedding itself in the brain.

Elsewhere, the woodwind flavoured ‘Canticle’ and dusky elegance of ‘White Chords’ further illustrate what a difficult beast to categorise These New Puritans are, while ‘Drum Courts – Where Corals Lie’ does what it says on the tin, only with an added menace and snarl that recall both Einsturzende Neubaten and Throbbing Gristle at their uncompromising best. Without taking anything away from the band themselves, plaudits must also go to former Bark Psychosis guitarist Graham Sutton, who oversaw the process from the production desk and helped sculpt one of the most invigorating records you’re likely to hear all year. All in all, ‘Hidden’ is nothing short of triumphant and one that should ensure These New Puritans status as indie also-rans is well and truly confined to the past.