These New Puritans

These New Puritans

These New Puritans (sometimes abbreviated to TNPS) are a British art rock band from the Southend-on-Sea area. The group consists of Jack Barnett (songwriter, producer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist), his twin brother George Barnett (drums, loops), Thomas Hein (bass guitar, sampler, drums), and Sophie Sleigh-Johnson (keyboards, sampler). They have recorded two albums, Beat Pyramid, released in 2008, and Hidden, released in 2010.

Sound

In a 2008 interview, Jack Barnett said that hip hop ensemble Wu-Tang Clan, especially member RZA, influenced the first album Beat Pyramid. Other inspirations include the electronic music of Aphex Twin and the cartoon series The Smurfs. At the time, Artrocker described These New Puritans as sounding like "Sheffield and Berlin synths, '90s alt rock Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo drones, Underworld beats; and all in the most contemporary of contexts". Unusually for a rock group, the band often incorporate the same section of music into different songs as refrains.

Before second album Hidden was released, Jack Barnett revealed that he had been writing music for bassoon and stated that the aim was for a final product where "dancehall meets Steve Reich". In a 2010 interview with Barnett, Paul Morley described These New Puritans' new material as "very 1970, but also quite 1610, 1950, 1979, 1989, 2005 and 2070". When performing live they are sometimes accompanied by a five-piece brass-woodwind ensemble. In a May 2010 interview with C.B.Liddell, Jack Barnett revealed that he is now interested in Melanesian music and anticipates that the next TNPS album will be "quieter."

Projects

Along with other Southend artists, These New Puritans played at the Experimental Circle Club and during the now defunct Junk Club nights, responsible for popularising the local music scene. The band has had support slots for Crystal Castles, British Sea Power, The Kills, Blood Red Shoes, Klaxons, and The xx.

These New Puritans worked with designer Hedi Slimane and recorded the song "Navigate, Navigate" for the Dior Homme Hiver 2007 show. Both the music and the collection received positive reviews. The band members also took part in an art/dance performance at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris for the after-show of the Stage of the Art.

Discography

Albums

• Beat Pyramid (2008) #188 UK
• Hidden (2010) #100 UK; #10 UK Indie

Singles/EPs

• "Now Pluvial" (30 October 2006) – 7"
• "Navigate, Navigate" (21 May 2007) – 12"/Digital download
• "Numbers"/"Colours" (5 November 2007) – 7"
• "Elvis" (21 January 2008) – 7"/CD
• "Swords of Truth" (5 May 2008) – 7"/12"/Digital Download
• "We Want War" (11 January 2010) – 10"/Digital Download
• "Attack Music" (12 April 2010) – Digital Download
• "Hologram" (26 July 2010)

Compilations

These New Puritans have contributed songs to the following CD compilations:

• "Chamber" – Digital Penetration (September 2006)
• "I Want to Be Tracey Emin" – Future Love Songs (December 2006)
• "Elvis" (demo) – Dance Floor Distortion (December 2006)
• "Colours" – 2000 Trees: Cider Smiles Vol. 1 (June 2008)

External links

• Official website
• MySpace page
• Thought Catalog interview with Jack Barnett
• C.B.Liddell interview with Jack Barnett
• Recent live review
• Interview in Tokyo with Modern Fuss