These New Puritans Explore Dance and Woodwinds on 'Hidden'

On their second album, 'Hidden,' British quartet These New Puritans explore a wide range of different rhythmic elements and new instrumentation, including Taiko-style drums and a brass ensemble.

The resulting effort yields a record that has a hefty dose of dance-y elements, but at the same time it has these intriguing quiet moments. The first song, a short woodwind number called 'Time Xone,' sounds like the score to a film from the '40s, as does the album's orchestral closer, '5.'

"The thing about this album, is that if you just go by the song titles, you'd think it's this weird and quite loud," vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jack Barnett tells Spinner. "This is more human in a way, more emotional. In it's way, even though it's a more stranger album than the first one, it's more accessible than the first one."

That said, those that find a more abrasive, cold sound can relish in the robotic arrangements of 'Attack Music' and the seven-minute-plus creepy solitude of 'We Want War.' It's definitely more emotional -- it's just not the emotions that you experience while consuming sunshine and lollipops.

These New Puritans are currently on tour with the XX. Starting March 10 in Barcelona, they'll embark on their own headlining tour of Europe and are eying Stateside gigs for later this year.