These New Puritans - Expanded Live at The Barbican (2014)

Since being swept away by the beauty of These New Puritans' 'Field of Reeds' last year, I have been eagerly awaiting some kind of follow-up album. For the time being, this has come in the form of a live performance of that same album performed at the Barbican, London in April this year. I may have been unable to attend that show but the next best thing is to have the subsequent album 'Expanded' which was released earlier this week.

It is named as such because the basic line-up was enhanced by a 35 piece band and orchestra to recreate the sounds which were painstakingly created in the studio. The results consequently are very similar to the original album and it is perhaps only when the audience applause punctuates the performance, that I remember that I am listening to the live version and not the original.

I may be biased but I think the whole thing works wonderfully well. It is difficult to define but I feel that this is the way the whole thing should have been done in the first place. The piercing brass or sweeping strings may be replicating those studio sounds but were the sounds in the studio not emulating brass and strings? This, I feel was how the album was meant to be and I hope that I get the opportunity one day to see and hear them play this album live in this expanded format.

I should add that as a bonus 'Expanded' also includes two pieces ('Three Thousand' and 'We Want War') from their 2010 album, 'Hidden'. Then, to end is a brand new song called 'Spitting Stars'. A taste of things to come perhaps?

The album is an aural triumph and personally I can't wait to hear what they do come up with next.

As a postscript, I see that These New Puritans have recently revealed their own favourite albums. Among them are 'Vespertine' by Björk, two Captain Beefheart albums ('Doc at the Radar Station' and 'Lick My Decals Off, Baby'), 'Sketches of Spain' by Miles Davis and 'Rock Bottom' by Robert Wyatt. No major surprises there I feel.

More surprisingly perhaps, the list also includes 'Pacific Ocean Blue' by Dennis Wilson and 'Down By The Jetty' by Dr. Feelgood. An interesting collection!