Field of Reeds
Defying expectations again, These New Puritans veer away from punk and electronica toward something more challenging on their third album, *Field of Reeds*. Band mastermind Jack Barnett builds these tracks out of diverse components, pairing the exotic textures of a magnetic resonator piano with austere brass lines, eerie chorale vocals, and sound effect samples. Barnett’s brother George plays a crucial role in holding the sometimes diffuse arrangements together with complex, jazz-tinged drumming. The result is a compelling song cycle. It can be jarring in its neoclassical contours, yet it\'s redeemed by an otherworldly grace. Between the disturbing atmospherics of “The Way I Do” and the darkly massed vocals of the title track is a musical journey that hints at extreme states of exaltation and despair without dispelling its air of pervasive mystery. The jittery syncopation of “Fragment 2” gives way to the dissonant art-song balladry of “V (Island Song)” and the rippling flow of “Organ Eternal.” Jack Barnett’s smoky murmur is enriched by the light, sweet tones of Portuguese singer Elisa Rodrigues.
Releasing three markedly different albums over the past seven years, the Puritans have earned the trust of their audience. Their latest is an uncomprimisingly self-possessed record that finds them shedding any assocations they once had with the wider rock world, reinventing themselves as a neo-classical ensemble.
While it isn’t pretty, cute, comfortable or enlightening music, Field of Reeds is important, resonant, serious and very, very clever.
Billed as a suite in three instalments of three tracks each, These New Puritans' third LP is a studious affair, as absorbant as it is absorbing (among its many influencers and participators are conductor André de Ridder, basso profundo Adrian Peacock, and professor Andrew McPherson, whose magnetic resonator piano is used on several songs).
Clash reviews 'Field Of Reeds', the third album from London-based outfit These New Puritans and the follow-up to their acclaimed 'Hidden'.
These New Puritans continue to experiment on their warm and rewarding third album, writes <strong>Phil Mongredien</strong>
It's meticulous, abstract and alien, but These New Puritans' third album is also deeply, poignantly human, writes <strong>Maddy Costa</strong>