☟YES/NO☟: arty

Monday, 8 July 2013

THESE NEW PURITANS AND IT'S RISEN

Cor blimey am I slow on the uptake sometimes. How embarrassing this can be. You see, These New Puritans have already released their third album Field of Reeds and where was I? Nowhere, apparently, cause I didn't write about it. I did however write about their song 'Fragment Two' when it was released for human ears a few months ago. It was nice, showing a subtle mix of their beats-inspired earlier stuff and the spooky instrumentals of their second album.

Now they've got a new album out they've been naturally doing the rounds, on tour an' that, and a few days ago they were on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1. If you don't know who Zane Lowe is then that's fine - he's this guy from New Zealand that plays music on BBC Radio 1 on weekdays from 7-9pm GMT. Use your googling skills to find out more.

So anyway they were at Maida Vale in London which is where all the bands and artists do live stuff for Radio 1. They played a few songs from the album. In addition, they also played a didn't-make-it-on-the-album track called 'And It's Risen' AND it's nice. Listen down.

Beginning with a now seemingly quite typically TNPs combination of unassuming vocals and piano chords, the song grabs attention right away. The piano sounds are almost uncomfortable in the beginning, beset by the languor of their own lingering reverberations, but in that there's a prettiness in the simplicity of the progressions and the way that the vocal melody follows the piano's.

The unexpected addition drums into this song is a very welcome addition indeed. They are wonderfully hesitant, clicks tripping over snare, a sparse beat yet imbued with power that provides the perfect companion to the vocals and piano. The beat in fact almost follows the new melody painted by the piano and vocals, all of which sinks into the background as bassoons or whatever rise up and provide a large orchestrally murky finale to the song, they give it this mournful tone that well describes the mud and grey of the Thames Estuary. Dunno why this didn't get to the album cause it's well good innit.

Have a listen to all of the Maida Vale sessions, but you should probably also check out their album Field of Reeds too.

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Wednesday, 8 May 2013

THESE NEW PURITANS FRAGMENT TWO

Hey, oh my gosh, it's These New Puritans, which is really exciting because I honestly thought that we weren't gonna hear anything from them ever again. A defeatist thought, yes, but now I'm even happier that they're back. They're back! Imagine that. Anyway, I loved their first album Beat Pyramid (2008) and also their second album Hidden; the sound between these two albums changed drastically from a distinctly stylised esoterically worded beat-driven indie band, to something more symphonic, still highly stylised and - although I hate to use this word - 'arty'.

It seems with this new release, 'Fragment Two', that we may be seeing a blend of out-there-unexpected-artiness and something a little more conventional - kind of a happy medium between the first and second album. Their new album is called Field of Reeds (out 10th June) and the title is kind of interesting for me. This is because I heard a few years ago from an interview with 'band leader' Jack Barnett that he wanted to write an opera about the islands of the Thames Estuary: their upcoming album may be that opera. But who knows. Maybe that was a pipe dream.

Anyway, on to the song.

The meaty meaty piano in the song is very 'them' (as are, as ever, the softly-spoken vocals), it sounds like a logical not-too-far departure from their last album. The way that the bass and drums then are led by this piano bashing is pretty nice - I like how everything fits in; even the backwards-organ-type-sounds that arise keep with that same rhythm. Mainly, I love how everything is just slightly off-centre - it's not standard by any means, but it's wonderfully squiffy - different instruments come in when you're not expecting it, the snare snaps exactly when you think it won't. Lovely. It builds to a climax, with some kind of horn instrument playing a truncated solo, bass notes rumbling. There is also a cheeky reverb on the snare drum every now and again.

It is quirky and I like it quite a lot. It wasn't what I was expecting, but then again nor was Hidden what I was expecting. Is avant-garde too strong? Yeah maybe. Let's just say that this song is refreshing. Like a new cuisine. Not like a peach cooler.