Alden Penner - Clues, The Hidden Words

After The Unicorns less-than-amicable break-up in 2004, songwriter Nick Thorburn became a well-known songwriter in his own right, fronting the ever-changing band Islands (in which Thorburn has been the only constant member), teaming up with Jim Guthrie as Human Highway, with Daddy Kev as Reefer, and most recently, launching supergroup Mister Heavenly with Man Man's Honus Honus, Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer, and Scott Pilgrim bassist Michael Cera (yes, that Michael Cera).

Less known in the indie world is what happened to the other songwriting-half of The Unicorns, Alden Penner. Aside from writing for film soundtracks, commercial jingles, and whatnot, Penner has also been involved in some musical projects. His band Clues' self-titled debut album is an sprawling epic-yet-intimate spiral through dark, crunchy power pop.

I've embedded a playlist of the album below. It's definitely worth a listen, especially if you liked anything the Unicorns did. If you listen to just one song, I suggest "You Have My Eyes Now."

Alden has recently reunited with former Unicorns drummer Jamie Thompson (who spent some time in Thorburn's Islands before another bad break-up) to create the religious band The Hidden Words, which puts music to sacred Baha'i texts. An album is forthcoming, but they have posted some media on their Facebook page. Here's a video for an untitled track:

Alden Penner - The Hidden Words from Video Marsh on Vimeo.

What do you think?