These New Puritans - Field of Reeds (09/07/2013)
Five years on from their debut release, These New Puritans have drifted far from their original style. With their third release, Field of Reeds, the band have slipped into the niche genre of neo-classical rock with a strong art rock feel. Rather than making music to sell to the public, the band is making it for themselves, which is rare from bands of today.
Ironically the bands best-known track just so happens to be the most accessible on the album. Fragment Two flows gently in and out of heaviness as piano tenderly interjects the multi-layered sounds, this easy listening is thoroughly missed later on in Field of Reeds.
There’s a distant darkness to The Light in Your Name, as Jack Barnett moans along to an eerie piano and low horns. The lyrics for the most part are undecipherable and instead of being frustrating, aids the songs ominous feel.
In V, there is a real disjoint between the introduction and body of the song, which starts off great but just doesn’t follow through. The song comes of cluttered and doesn’t really leave much to remember it by but a jumble of instruments and muttering from Barnett. The track, which finishes at a whopping nine minutes, is clearly more about the progression of the instruments, which taken just as they are, are quite beautiful and transfixing.
One of the slightly more uplifting songs on the album, Organ Eternal gives hope that the album isn’t entirely gothic and intense. The energetic chords of the piano are only interrupted by the haunting vocals of Barnett. This track comes at the right time and offers an uplifting break from the harshness of the first songs. Other transfixing songs on the album worth a listen are Dream and Spiral.
Occasionally in Field of Reeds you get that feeling of déjà vu and have to ask, have I listened to this song before? Unfortunately Nothing Else is one of these tracks, and mirrors much of the musicality of the earlier songs. But alas, it is just the continual art rock style that These New Puritans are pushing. However, there is a stronger jazz influence in this track and the wind instruments’ presence is much more noticeable.
There are so many layers to the title track, Field of Reeds; it is audibly exciting, if there even is such a thing. As strong as the opening is, the song is quickly stripped bare, and Barnett’s vocals come to the forefront. His raspy voice and the build of the chorus behind him can’t help but give you shivers. This is a track where the bands iconoclastic style comes to the front in a way that is hard not to appreciate.
Throughout the nine tracks there is the inescapable feeling that you’re listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. Although this is somewhat heavy listening for a casual morning at home or drive to the shops, you can’t deny that the album is overflowing with emotion. The vocals from Barnett possess that raw quality which leads all of his imperfections to be deemed as nothing else but human.
Perhaps the most accurate way to explain Field of Reeds, is best looked at in comparison to food. If the album were any delicacy, it would be a dense pudding with crunchy “surprises” inside, granted this isn’t something that would suit everyone, but that’s not to say that someone out there won’t find that pudding bloody tasty.
Amanda Sherring
Ironically the bands best-known track just so happens to be the most accessible on the album. Fragment Two flows gently in and out of heaviness as piano tenderly interjects the multi-layered sounds, this easy listening is thoroughly missed later on in Field of Reeds.
There’s a distant darkness to The Light in Your Name, as Jack Barnett moans along to an eerie piano and low horns. The lyrics for the most part are undecipherable and instead of being frustrating, aids the songs ominous feel.
In V, there is a real disjoint between the introduction and body of the song, which starts off great but just doesn’t follow through. The song comes of cluttered and doesn’t really leave much to remember it by but a jumble of instruments and muttering from Barnett. The track, which finishes at a whopping nine minutes, is clearly more about the progression of the instruments, which taken just as they are, are quite beautiful and transfixing.
One of the slightly more uplifting songs on the album, Organ Eternal gives hope that the album isn’t entirely gothic and intense. The energetic chords of the piano are only interrupted by the haunting vocals of Barnett. This track comes at the right time and offers an uplifting break from the harshness of the first songs. Other transfixing songs on the album worth a listen are Dream and Spiral.
Occasionally in Field of Reeds you get that feeling of déjà vu and have to ask, have I listened to this song before? Unfortunately Nothing Else is one of these tracks, and mirrors much of the musicality of the earlier songs. But alas, it is just the continual art rock style that These New Puritans are pushing. However, there is a stronger jazz influence in this track and the wind instruments’ presence is much more noticeable.
There are so many layers to the title track, Field of Reeds; it is audibly exciting, if there even is such a thing. As strong as the opening is, the song is quickly stripped bare, and Barnett’s vocals come to the forefront. His raspy voice and the build of the chorus behind him can’t help but give you shivers. This is a track where the bands iconoclastic style comes to the front in a way that is hard not to appreciate.
Throughout the nine tracks there is the inescapable feeling that you’re listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. Although this is somewhat heavy listening for a casual morning at home or drive to the shops, you can’t deny that the album is overflowing with emotion. The vocals from Barnett possess that raw quality which leads all of his imperfections to be deemed as nothing else but human.
Perhaps the most accurate way to explain Field of Reeds, is best looked at in comparison to food. If the album were any delicacy, it would be a dense pudding with crunchy “surprises” inside, granted this isn’t something that would suit everyone, but that’s not to say that someone out there won’t find that pudding bloody tasty.
Amanda Sherring