Britpop icons Pulp have announced a long-awaited return with ‘More’, their first studio album since 2001’s ‘We Love Life’. The album will be released on June 6 on Rough Trade Records, who the band signed with in December last year. The announcement was made on BBC Radio 6 Music’s Laura Laverne Show, as well as the debut for the first single from the album, ‘Spike Island’.
Jarvis Cocker and the rest of the band joined Laverne in the studio on Thursday morning to reveal the news, as well as discussing various aspects of its creation, inspiration, and what the future may hold. Asked “Why now?”, Cocker said, “The live shows were a big influence, and the songs seemed to come back to life. We just thought we’d carry on and see what we can conjure up.”
Fans of the Stone Roses will understand exactly what the single, ‘Spike Island’, takes its name from. The infamous 1990 gig was already the subject of Pulp’s ‘Sorted for E’s & Whizz’, written by Cocker after hearing the phrase from a girl he met, despite not going to the show. ‘Spike Island’ shares a similar inspiration, written after Jason Buckle recounted a story to Cocker about a DJ who repeated the phrase “Spike Island, come alive” between each song.
Along with the album’s title and first single, we also have the tracklist. According to their Instagram announcement, fans will be treated to 11 new tracks, including ‘Spike Island’, though no order has been confirmed as of yet. The album was recorded in three weeks, produced by James Ford, and has contributions from longtime collaborator and occasional tour member, Richard Hawley. Of the announced tracks, ‘Farmer’s Market’ has already been played to fans, debuting at a September 2024 show in Los Angeles.
Fans could have predicted the announcement, especially after their planned tour dates for 2025 were revealed in February. They posted six shows in the UK as part of the You Deserve More tour, as well as telling fans that dynamic pricing would not be used, with the band saying “We’re doing our best to make this fair and transparent”. They also revealed plans to play in Korea for the first time, as well as potential Australian shows on BBC Radio 6. The radio show also gave listeners a chance to ask questions, one of which was about a return to Glastonbury, to which Cocker said “Glastonbury has a very important place in our hearts, but there are no plans to play there.”
‘More’ will be Pulp’s first release since the passing of long-time bassist Steve Mackey, who passed away in March 2023. “People who you’re close to, you never forget them,” Cocker said. “But you can do things to remember them by.” The album is dedicated to Mackey’s memory.
The upcoming release makes Pulp the third out of the Britpop “big four” to release an album in the 2020’s, following on from Suede’s ‘Autofiction’ in 2022, and Blur’s ‘The Ballad of Darren’ in 2023, both of which were well received. Meanwhile, Oasis are less than 100 days away from embarking on their eagerly-anticipated reunion tour, proving that even 30 years on from those heady days, Britpop is alive and well.
