I can't say that I really got These New Puritans the first time around - possibly for a number of points of bias:
1. Their name comes from a legendary Fall-oddity that once declared "The experimental is now conventional"
2. They stem from the same scene that produced The Horrors
3. Their record collections were better than their own records
4. They're one of those skinny bands with the right profile..etc

But hearing lead single 'We Want War' a week or so ago and reading a mass of positive reviews since, TNP second time around are quite the revelation. I've even bought a copy of debut Beat Pyramid to check if my first impressions were actually that fair. A record as great as this can't come from nowhere, can it?

'We Want War' is a pretty great introduction following opening instrumental 'Time Xone' - where TNP seemed to be one of those tedious post-punk referencing acts like Foals and Prinzhorn Dance School, they now offer seven-minutes of doomy electronica, industrial clatter, world music inflections and the kind of electronic adventures last explored by a British band on..Kid A?

Hidden blurs electronics (pop, dancehall, hip-hop) with classical instrumentation, making you think one minute of recent work by Animal Collective (though if Terry Hall was the singer rather than Brian Wilson) and old work by Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The idea of getting a Dilla/Doom-associate to mix the album produced by TNP leader Jack Barnett and Bark Psychosis' Graham Sutton is very interesting - that the LP appears to be a vague concept album inspired by the Thames Estuary and influenced by Benjamin Britten, Steve Reich and Britney Spears makes it even more appealing. While sounding little like either, I can't help but think of cult 80's albums like Dreams Less Sweet and Spirit of Eden when listening to Hidden.

It's possible that some may not be enamoured with Barnett's vocals, though they don't seem as irritating as I found them when I heard their earlier material - sort of something like Mike Skinner-meets-the bloke from Reverend & the Makers on an MES-trip. Sometimes Barnett isn't that far from Thom Yorke, though certainly not as whiney - more surprising is that he sounds like Robert Smith on 'Hologram' and (especially) 'White Chords.'

The last decade of stock alt-rock, sub-U2 anthems, post-Libertines/Strokes indie and the roots-heavy vibe of Kings of Leon resulted in a lot of bad music. As for the mass of post-punk inspired charlatans like Bloc Party, Editors, and White Lies - there's nothing clever about diluting the experimental. Hidden sticks out against this lack of imagination - the Unthanks apart, what other British acts have been citing Steve Reich?

Hidden is far from conventional, though thoroughly listenable and made me want to come out with cliches about being 'a soundtrack to an imaginary film' or 'the soundtrack to a JG Ballard novel set on the Thames Estuary.." Certainly the missing link between Timbaland and Throbbing Gristle..

Hidden is also brilliantly sequenced and one of those albums that should be listened to in order and in full - no shuffle required. After listening to it for approximately a week, it's one of those albums that seems to reveal more each time and manages to make both less and more sense each time around. Having said that, there are definite highlights - the relentless electronics of 'Fire Power', the paranoid chant of 'Attack Music', the slo-mo hip-hop of 'Three Thousand', the electronica choir effect of 'Orion.'

It's already safe to say that Hidden will be one of 2010's highlights and surely must be a favourite to win the Mercury, let alone just a nomination. An addictive album that pays dividends with each play - though quite a surprise considering I'd dismissed them a few years ago. ALL HAIL THESE NEW PURITANS!