If at times their aspirations outstrip their execution, it’s not by much, and Hidden, the sophomore disc from Jack Barnett and his band, These New Puritans, is certainly a grand display of both ambition and precision. With richer compositions and a broader orchestral palette, Barnett builds on the insistence and mystery that powered the band’s debut, but moves well beyond that disc’s guitar-driven post-punk core. The disc captures the present through evocative compositions and echoing rhythms, but it stands just as strongly as a portent to what this band’s substantial vision may yet achieve.

A four-piece on-stage, These New Puritans grew much larger in the studio sessions for Hidden. With influence from 20th century classical icons Benjamin Britten and Steve Reich on display, Barnett studied up on formal music notation to communicate his compositions to the school choir and 13-piece woodwind/brass section the band put to work. These fully realized neo-classical elements add patience and depth to the music, but These New Puritans keep their pummeling rhythms front and center, pairing all manner of percussion to give all the orchestrations a martial presence. Massive Japanese taiko drums find their place among the drum kit, drum machine presets and extensive Foley sound effect recordings undertaken by Barnett and co-producer Graham Sutton, who carefully sought perfection in each sonic element of beats bearing great immediacy.

Despite the many juxtaposed instruments and musical notions, the album takes on a cohesive militant tone tempered by notes of concern and misgiving. Even when song to song transitions take place in the most jarring way such as the passage from opener/overture “Time Xone” to the well named “We Want War” with its seven-plus minutes of pounding drums, blasting horns and vocal chants, the connection between the pieces is immediately apparent. Songs such as “Attack Music” and “Fire – Power” provide visceral anchors, but all that aggressiveness is balanced by more measured delicacies such as “Hologram” with its hopeful yearning, and “White Chords” where minimalism and complexity get together. Rhythmically driven and classically focused, the instrumental “5” closes the disc and really sets the tone for what might yet come from this band. Barnett might someday write compositions aimed at the opera set, but for now his love of tempestuous rhythms and post-punk energy successfully rise to greet his classical inspirations with surprisingly effective results.

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