Review Summary: A brilliantly original work of genius.
In December 2010, I bought a new issue of NME which centred on the top 50 albums of the year. Immediately after purchase, I gleefully flicked through the list, waiting to see The Suburbs appointed the top spot, but alas, this was not to be so. To my genuine surprise, an album I'd never heard of by a group I didn't know was named the best album of the year - Hidden by These New Puritans. I was disheartened and after skimming through the article, I dismissed them as "pointlessly pretentious". But about a year later, I reread the article and decided to give the record a shot. Only after a single listen, I sincerely regretted shunning it and found it to be wholly deserving of that top spot.
The album as a cohesive whole sounds like little to nothing else out there at the moment or ever. 'We Want War' begins as a thunderous stomper with pounding taiko drums before switching to a haunting choir piece with brooding brass and a reserved piano line, and finally climaxes with a calming woodwind outro. 'Orion' sounds positvely ancient, transporting us back to a prehistoric time by way of its monosyllabic choir vocals and eardrum-rattling drum-beats. With its wonderful Steve Reich-isms, 'Hologram' is a work of sheer beauty in the midst of shaken chains, thundering taiko drums and booming horns. 'White Chords' is the type of brilliance Radiohead would kill to have written. While the cerebral '5' is quite possibly my favourite album closer.
Now I'm well aware that this album is not to everyone's tastes, especially if the last record you bought was Sorry For Party Rocking; it's unashamedly Avant-Garde, but if you can deal with that. give it a try. In my personal opinion, it confirms Jack Barnett's visionary musical genius. This album instantly blew me away, which is particularly difficult because I'm pompous and pretentious. But on a serious note, it is one of the most cohesive, original, brilliant and truly genius albums I've ever heard. If you have a serious appreciation for serious music, you may find a lot to like about Hidden. Also, while I've heard and loved all the classics from Kind of Blue to Pet Sounds to OK Computer, this is my personal favourite ever. Don't you just love big statements like that?
