“I don’t really think about musical influences that much,” admits Jack Barnett of These New Puritans, speaking from his hometown of Southend-on-Sea. “I think I spend more time writing music than listening to it really.” Released earlier in 2025, These New Puritans’ Crooked Wing is their first studio album in six years, and it’s easy to imagine Barnett spending every single one of the intervening minutes crafting its complex kaleidoscope of sounds.
Befitting someone whose music is difficult to categorise, Barnett’s list of favourite albums is eclectic (“I was going to choose like, Pet Sounds, but everyone’s already heard that”) and spans experimental opera, flamenco, classic rock and early 20th century Greek music. Like These New Puritans themselves, formed in 2006 by Barnett and his twin brother George, many of his choices are made by musical duos with alchemic tension and chemistry. Another connective thread is rhythmic intensity. “I think additive rhythm is in a lot of music that I like,” Barnett says. “We’re all hardwired a certain way, with certain things that appeal to us, and that’s something that appeals to me.”
Barnett admits he would have found it easier to select a mixture of influences: film, books, TV shows, as well as music. “I was thinking of things that are formative,” he says. “I think comedy is a touchstone in terms of the band, and more of a thing that we have in common. Steve Coogan and Vic and Bob – I love the absurdity and the grit, and those two things coexisting.” But after overcoming the initial difficulty of choosing 13 records (“I kept ending up with 11”) he speaks eloquently about his chosen favourites, which skew towards more recent discoveries.
“I realised that so many albums that gave me momentum at some point in life I haven’t listened to for years and years,” he explains. “So, I’ve tried to choose things that have sustained my attention, and things that I love now.”
These New Puritans new album Crooked Wing is out now. They perform at this year’s Skaņu Mežs Festival, which takes place from 3 to 4 October. For tickets, and the full line-up, click here.
To begin reading Jack Barnett’s Baker’s Dozen, click ‘first selection’ below.
