Pulp have announced their first new album for 24 years.
The Britpop icons have revealed that ‘More’ – their first new record since ‘We Love Life’ in 2001 – will be released on June 6.
The album has been produced by James Ford and is dedicated to the ‘Common People’ band’s late bassist Steve Mackey, who died at the age of 56 in 2023.
Frontman Jarvis Cocker told BBC Radio 6 Music on Thursday (10.04.25) morning: “[Playing live] was a big influence on it – that we played and the songs came back to life.
“We did play one new song towards the end of the tour and no one threw stuff at us or left to go to the bar.
“We chose to do it quickly… it wanted to come out.”
Pulp have also released the new single ‘Spike Island’ – a nod to the legendary gig that The Stone Roses played in Cheshire back in 1980 at the site of a disused chemical plant.
Jarvis never attended the gig in question but said he had “spoken to people who went and picked things up second hand from it”, such as the song’s co-writer Jason Buckle.
Discussing the album in more detail, the 61-year-old musician said in a statement on Instagram: “This is the first Pulp album since ‘We Love Life’ in 2001. Yes: the first Pulp album for almost 24 years. How did that happen?
“Well: when we started touring again in 2023, we practiced a new song called ‘Hymn of the North’ during soundchecks and eventually played it at the end of our second night at Sheffield Arena.
“This seemed to open the floodgates: we came up with the rest of the songs on this album during the first half of 2024.
“A couple are revivals of ideas from the last century.
“The music for one song was written by Richard Hawley. The music for another was written by Jason Buckle. The Eno family sing backing vocals on a song. There are string arrangements written by Richard Jones and played by the Elysian Collective.
”The album was recorded over three weeks by James Ford in Walthamstow, London, starting on November 18, 2024.
“This is the shortest amount of time a Pulp album has ever taken to record in the modern era. It was obviously ready to happen. These are the facts.
”We hope you enjoy the music.
“It was written and performed by four human beings from the North of England, aided and abetted by five other human beings from various locations in the British Isles. No A.I. was involved during the process.
”This album is dedicated to Steve Mackey.
”This is the best that we can do.
”Thanks for listening.” (sic)