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These New Puritans
These New Puritans are an English band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett (principal songwriter, vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist) and his twin brother George Barnett (drums, electronics, producer, artwork). Multi-instrumentalist Thomas Hein was an active member of TNP between 2006 and 2016; keyboardist Sophie Sleigh-Johnson was active between 2006 and 2010. Portuguese fado and jazz singer Elisa Rodrigues joined as a vocalist between 2012 and 2015. They have recorded five studio albums: Beat Pyramid (2008), Hidden (2010), Field of Reeds (2013), Inside the Rose (2019) and Crooked Wing (2025).
The band's music has been described as "blurring the distinction between rock, classical, electronic and experimental" and as "strikingly modern yet simultaneously timeless."
The Barnett brothers grew up in the Essex town of Southend-on-Sea. Their father was a builder and their mother was an art teacher. George and Jack made music together as children with "karaoke microphones, old bongos and guitars too large for their tiny hands", later focusing on electronic music under the name Mick the Asbestos. They formed the band together with childhood friend Tom Hein, who grew up in nearby Billericay.
In a 2008 interview, Jack Barnett said that hip hop acts Wu-Tang Clan, especially member RZA, Timbaland and J Dilla influenced the first album Beat Pyramid. Barnett also stated that his inspirations included the electronic music of Aphex Twin and the cartoon series The Smurfs, though he later suggested this was not serious.
TNP have been described as "falling in the tradition of British outliers that also includes Robert Wyatt, Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis and Scott Walker." Although unusual for a rock group, the band often incorporates the same section of music into different songs as refrains.
Before their second album Hidden was released, 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". He taught himself musical notation to score the brass and woodwind elements of the album. In a 2010 interview with Jack Barnett, Paul Morley described These New Puritans' new material on Hidden as "very 1970, but also quite 1610, 1950, 1979, 1989, 2005 and 2070". When performing live during the Hidden era they were often accompanied by a five-piece brass-woodwind ensemble. In 2010, they performed a series of full live performances of Hidden (featuring a brass-woodwind ensemble, Taiko drums, children's choir, three vibraphonists and live Foley techniques) entitled Hidden Live, at venues such as the Barbican Centre (featuring the Britten Sinfonia), the Pompidou Centre and Berghain. In 2010, the song "We Want War" featured on the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood soundtrack.
In October 2020, the band announced a reissue of the album titled Hidden [MMXX] out 4 December via Domino, which included unreleased songs from the original recording sessions as well as two live recordings. The release was made available on vinyl.
In a May 2010 interview with C.B.Liddell, Jack Barnett revealed that he was interested in Melanesian music and that he anticipated that the next TNPS album would be "quieter." Towards the end of 2012 the band remixed "Mutual Core" by Björk, which featured on the remix album Bastards. In June 2013, they released their third album, Field of Reeds, which featured jazz singer Elisa Rodrigues. The video clip for the single Organ Eternal was directed by Willy Vanderperre and featured the acclaimed Belgian actress Line Pillet. Musically Field of Reeds was described as "uncategorizable" and as drawing heavily on avant-garde classical composition. For the "Fragment Two" video, they reunited with Daniel Askill, who'd previously directed "We Want War".
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These New Puritans
These New Puritans are an English band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett (principal songwriter, vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist) and his twin brother George Barnett (drums, electronics, producer, artwork). Multi-instrumentalist Thomas Hein was an active member of TNP between 2006 and 2016; keyboardist Sophie Sleigh-Johnson was active between 2006 and 2010. Portuguese fado and jazz singer Elisa Rodrigues joined as a vocalist between 2012 and 2015. They have recorded five studio albums: Beat Pyramid (2008), Hidden (2010), Field of Reeds (2013), Inside the Rose (2019) and Crooked Wing (2025).
The band's music has been described as "blurring the distinction between rock, classical, electronic and experimental" and as "strikingly modern yet simultaneously timeless."
The Barnett brothers grew up in the Essex town of Southend-on-Sea. Their father was a builder and their mother was an art teacher. George and Jack made music together as children with "karaoke microphones, old bongos and guitars too large for their tiny hands", later focusing on electronic music under the name Mick the Asbestos. They formed the band together with childhood friend Tom Hein, who grew up in nearby Billericay.
In a 2008 interview, Jack Barnett said that hip hop acts Wu-Tang Clan, especially member RZA, Timbaland and J Dilla influenced the first album Beat Pyramid. Barnett also stated that his inspirations included the electronic music of Aphex Twin and the cartoon series The Smurfs, though he later suggested this was not serious.
TNP have been described as "falling in the tradition of British outliers that also includes Robert Wyatt, Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis and Scott Walker." Although unusual for a rock group, the band often incorporates the same section of music into different songs as refrains.
Before their second album Hidden was released, 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". He taught himself musical notation to score the brass and woodwind elements of the album. In a 2010 interview with Jack Barnett, Paul Morley described These New Puritans' new material on Hidden as "very 1970, but also quite 1610, 1950, 1979, 1989, 2005 and 2070". When performing live during the Hidden era they were often accompanied by a five-piece brass-woodwind ensemble. In 2010, they performed a series of full live performances of Hidden (featuring a brass-woodwind ensemble, Taiko drums, children's choir, three vibraphonists and live Foley techniques) entitled Hidden Live, at venues such as the Barbican Centre (featuring the Britten Sinfonia), the Pompidou Centre and Berghain. In 2010, the song "We Want War" featured on the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood soundtrack.
In October 2020, the band announced a reissue of the album titled Hidden [MMXX] out 4 December via Domino, which included unreleased songs from the original recording sessions as well as two live recordings. The release was made available on vinyl.
In a May 2010 interview with C.B.Liddell, Jack Barnett revealed that he was interested in Melanesian music and that he anticipated that the next TNPS album would be "quieter." Towards the end of 2012 the band remixed "Mutual Core" by Björk, which featured on the remix album Bastards. In June 2013, they released their third album, Field of Reeds, which featured jazz singer Elisa Rodrigues. The video clip for the single Organ Eternal was directed by Willy Vanderperre and featured the acclaimed Belgian actress Line Pillet. Musically Field of Reeds was described as "uncategorizable" and as drawing heavily on avant-garde classical composition. For the "Fragment Two" video, they reunited with Daniel Askill, who'd previously directed "We Want War".