The Experimental Duo Also Releases Seven-Minute Composition “Bells”
These New Puritans are back with an exciting announcement: their new album, Crooked Wing, is set to drop on May 23rd, marking the English duo’s first album in five years. Along with the announcement, they’ve shared two singles from the upcoming album: “Bells” and the Caroline Polachek-assisted “Industrial Love Song”.
Written and produced by brothers Jack and George Barnett, with additional production from Graham Sutton of Bark Psychosis, Crooked Wing is the follow-up to the band’s 2019 album, Inside the Rose. On this album, the duo experiments with field recordings, unconventional instruments, and collaborates with a variety of guest musicians. George Barnett describes it as “both more surreal and somehow more direct than anything we’ve ever done.”
The first single, “Industrial Love Song,” features a haunting duet between Jack Barnett and Caroline Polachek. Describing the collaboration, Jack says, “It’s a duet between two cranes on a building site. Caroline sings the part of one crane, I sing the other; they can’t touch (their movements are controlled by the operator), but when the sun rises, they hope that their shadows will cross.” He adds, “I like how the title George came up with misdirects expectations — it’s not that kind of industrial.”
Meanwhile, “Bells” is a seven-minute composition that centers around a ringing bell, layered with twinkling piano and Jack’s delicate baritone. With no percussion beyond the field-recorded bell sample, the track is dramatic and atmospheric. Jack reflects, “This song started with a field recording we made of a bell in a small Orthodox Greek church. You can hear it in the song, and the rest of the song grew out of it. That one bell strike set a lot of the album in motion.”
Crooked Wing will be available on May 23rd via Domino.
Crooked Wing Tracklist:
- Waiting
- Bells
- A Season In Hell
- Industrial Love Song
- I’m Already Here
- Wild Fields (I Don’t Want To)
- The Old World
- Crooked Wing
- Goodnight
- Return
