Pulp debuted a new track in Sheffield tonight. It is called "Hymn of the North".

I'm off for a wee lie down.

Whaaaaaaaaat?! Damn, I left midway through Glory Days to get a headstart on the journey back!

salmon92 wrote:

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Whaaaaaaaaat?! Damn, I left midway through Glory Days to get a headstart on the journey back!

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 I'm so, so sorry.

Wow Pip, great research. How fascinating!

lipglossed wrote:

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Pulp debuted a new track in Sheffield tonight. It is called "Hymn of the North".

I'm off for a wee lie down.

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Well there you go, something new  

liltman wrote:

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Noooooooo I sold my ticket! Oh well, they cant take away Jarvis laughing at me last weekend.

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 Indeed. If they have any brains, they'll sample your special sound for the next track...

youtu.be/M-AJXibUByo

On YouTube now

It feels like a "stately address" type song/missive in a similar way to the last fully new song they recorded twenty years ago, Last Day Of The Miner's Strike.

I think I'm gonna dig this one more though.

I'm not sure what it means though in terms of the future. It could act like another full stop swansong or just be a wisdom-with-local-flavour statement ( à la Blur's Under The Westway).

Yeah, I feel more compelled to go and listen to this again than I would LDOTMS. Going to listen again. I never heard of the play Light Falls so hadn't heard this before. I want to read the lyrics now (but not whilst...). So grateful to have the video but I imagine that sounded beautiful in the arena tonight. Agree about seeing Jarvis and Candida side by side. This whole tour has been not just aurally great but visually striking too. How am I meant to go to sleep now ;)

https://youtu.be/MIISXX_90hc

 

Closer video. I'm sure more will appear

-- Edited by Jean on Sunday 16th of July 2023 12:21:50 AM

-- Edited by Jean on Sunday 16th of July 2023 12:22:21 AM

lipglossed wrote:

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Eamonn wrote:

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It feels like a "stately address" type song/missive in a similar way to the last fully new song they recorded twenty years ago, Last Day Of The Miner's Strike.

I think I'm gonna dig this one more though.

I'm not sure what it means though in terms of the future. It could act like another full stop swansong or just be a wisdom-with-local-flavour statement ( à la Blur's Under The Westway).

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 LDOTMS is also what I thought of.

But god, this song is so effing beautiful. Really made my heart feel fuzzy.

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I had that feeling too. For reasons best known to itself, my Spotify has been playing it loads recently, and that rousing "the north is rising" bit keeps hitting me. 

I was struggling a little bit with the sound clarity on the vocals in places where I was sitting, so didn't really catch the lyrics that well. Better watch YouTube a few times. 

youtu.be/RxzU_bESuTo

Just to add to the article Pip posted. Some more background to the song. Listened a few times now to the song. Really lovely

joemc5054 wrote:

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Anyone else get the vibe of Blue Girls too, Id say its LDOTMS in lyrics and Blue Girls in instrumentation

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The vocal melody reminds me in parts, of Happy New Year by Jarvis and Hawley. Maybe bits of Big Julie too?

Eamonn wrote:

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Just watched it back and yeah, bloody beautiful innit?
So...what makes it a Pulp song? Or, rather, why has Jarvis deemed it to be one? Did anyone hear the original?

Maybe entire sections have been added by the band? Mark has some distinctive guitar figures on this, presumably his own work.

Are Jarv Is..members involved in this? They didn't appear to be playing live (Andrew on bass maybe, but I didn't notice Emma or Adam). Does that mean a separation between both bands exists in Jarvis' mind when it comes to writing? Candida being front and centre, Mark playing prominent parts...was that a Pulp-flex?!

So many questions. Sorry, too many. Na'nite.

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 Emma was on violin.

Très belle chanson, as we say in French. More "Jarv is" than Pulp but hey it's a 2019 song and from "le haut du panier" of the Jarv is songs...
Now we need a proper version.
Still, I hope for a new new Pulp song as teased. Maybe London, as a "bouquet final"

Well, fancy that. It's rather lovely isn't it?

How nice!
It reminds me a little bit of "Song to the siren". Jarvis was singing it at the Proms a few years ago. Candida and him at the keyboard is so heartbreaking. I envy everyone who was there.

Factories lie empty,
And (factor-in?) emptiness,
Life still needs to be filled nonetheless,
So go and find something to love,
But promise me this one thing,

Oh please stay in sight of the mainland,
Yes please stay in sight of the mainland.

I dont want you to go,
But before you go theres just one thing you ought to know

Yes theres just one thing you ought to know (x2),
Yes theres just one thing (x2)

You can fill your life with dreams,
You can fill your life with (oat? Owt?),
You can fill your life with food and drink,
Or whatever floats your boat,
Ill be watching from the shoreline,
Ill be singing you this song,
Theres so many things in store for you,
Just beyond the horizon,

So please, etc, yes please etc

Youre wiser than Ill ever be,
Your beautiful (?) is so for me,
You fill my heart, you fill my dreams,

My only hopes that you succeed, yeah (x2),
Youre my only hope (x2).

So please, please, please, please, please

[discordant music]

(?)
(?) you and me,
Northern lifes (?)
Northern lifes just like a rope,
Northern rain, northern rain turning into a flood,
So dont forget your northern blood,

Yes please, etc, so please, etc

Please stay in touch with me,
In this contactless society,
Anywhere you may be,

Your northern star leads back to me,
Yes the northern star leads back to me (x2)
Youre my northern star (x2)
Youre all northern stars

So please

-- Edited by superchob on Sunday 16th of July 2023 09:49:36 PM

Truly blown away to find out this was played on the second night!

I can't help but wonder why and what this might mean for Pulp. From what I've heard it would work perfectly recorded by the band IMO, and would be what I expect from the band at this stage, very much a LTOTMS style.

Is it a one off? Does Jarvis have plans to merge his band & songs from Jarv Is into Pulp? So many questions that have already been asked, but the mystery will no doubt remain until we maybe hear something one day.

Very interesting also that Jarvis said "See You Soon", maybe I'm overanalysing but it sounds like they could stick around for a bit.

Ideal situation they craft a new record early next year and tour it mid-late next year. I can dream right?

I have had a few listens and I think it's great. Pretty much what I would expect, not an immediate chartstorming hit single in a parallel universe like "After You" but a very nice, lengthy ballad. To me, it sounds like "Blue Girls" and "Loss Adjuster" with a sprinkling of "She's Dead". I haven't heard the 2019 version but I'm guessing it's nowhere near as complex as this.

Jarvis and Candida on the keyboard was an iconic moment. I'm not sure if anything like this has ever been done before (except maybe in the 1980s where Jarvis and Russell both provided vocals on "Fairground") but it's very welcome.

As Paul says above, they must have numerous unused songs lying around. We know that there's about an album's worth of material from 1999-2001, there may also be material from Jarvis solo, Jarv Is and possibly even Relaxed Muscle. We know from the existing reissues that this is likely to range from throwaway (Paula, Can I have My Balls Back Please?) to fantastic (It's a Dirty World, You're Not Blind). I think it's reasonable to conclde that there is an album's worth of decent material available.

When the string-section signalled the bridge section with that busy, discordant frenzy (reminded me of the similar trick pulled in "It's Raining Today" by Sir Scott Walker), I really feared that it would be to the detriment of the song but it actually works as an effective foil (rather than jarring - certainly on repeat listens) to the strong melodic nature of the rest of the song.

Another thought: those partially obscured lyrics in the notebook that Jarv posted on Instagram lately are... not this. No doubt he scribbles ideas down all the time, but *maybe* it's a hint that there's more new stuff on the way?

Its really growing on me this song and I'm finding myself humming snatches of it throughout the day. I watched a YouTube video of the performance from Saturday and I'm not ashamed to say that I teared up. In the moment it was quite hard to take it in. I'm still not entirely convinced by the discordant transition after the first part of the song, it nearly falls apart, but it recovers. I'm also not super convinced it actually sounds that Pulp like but I'm not going to quibble too hard. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Eamonn wrote:

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I'm not sure what Pulp would/should sound like now though...

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 I think they'd sound like this.

Welcome to the new era.

Candida looks really emotional at times during that performance. It was a very poignant moment.

-- Edited by BransonPickle on Thursday 20th of July 2023 02:58:21 PM

lipglossed wrote:

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Eamonn wrote:

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I'm not sure what Pulp would/should sound like now though...

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 I think they'd sound like this.

Welcome to the new era.

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 Twinning with Arctic Monkeys and their slower more easy listening feel ha ha. Having said that - BRING IT ON!

That's brilliant, Pip. Fair play to you. Thank you. Enjoyed this.

Man, there's so much more left in the tank isn't there? Not just Jarvis, but Mark's well-judged guitar keening on this. Nick's measured, as ever, beats.

To quote the often brilliant Britney, (and I'm sure she was talking about Pulp material when she sung this...) "Gimme (gimme) more..."

Well....I'm not being funny now, the theory of this song being played "up north" is well and truly out the window now. There simply HAS to be more things to come.

on July 15th, Jarvis said before singing Hymn of the North : "We are in the north so we thought we should do it FIRST" so...
please someone in the audience, anyone, give us a new vid

He's already fallen two storeys! I hope he'll be fine. <3

Have any of the musicians on here worked out the chords for Hymn Of The North? I really want to play/sing along to it but I'm not great at learning by ear.

I really hope they record this song, I think it's pretty incredible.

Regular chord structure but some tricky chords changes and smart way to bring them too. Something only Jarvis can do... Has potential to be a huge orchestral song. they need to record this. 

The chords, then there's piano fills and stuff... Have fun !

Cmaj7 FMAJ7
Factories lie empty
Manufacturing emptiness
Life still needs to be filled nonetheless
So go and find something to love
And promise me this one thing


G7 FMAJ7
Oh please stay in sight of the mainland
Yes please stay in sight of the mainland


FMAJ7
I don't want you to go
But before you go there's just one thing you ought to know
Yes there's just one thing you ought to know
Yes there's just one thing you ought to know
Yes there's just one thing
Yes ther's just one thing


Cmaj7 FMAJ7
You can fill your life with dreams
You can fill your lif with owt
You can fill your life with food and drink
Or whatever floats your boat
I'll be watching from the shoreline
I'll be singing you this song
There's so many things in store for you
Just beyond the horizo


G7 FMAJ7
Oh please stay in sight of the mainland
Yes please stay in sight of the mainland

etc

then

Break / tonality changes (when he gets up)

C#M(7) / C7

C#M(7) / C7 / G7

then chorus


CMAJ7 FMAJ7



Etc

-- Edited by andy on Monday 27th of November 2023 10:56:17 AM

Eamonn wrote:

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Nice one, Andy. Ah yes, I should have known, those wistful major7 chords - just how Nick triggered Babies all those years ago with a Dmaj7 in the "Catcliffe Hit Factory" (copyright, Sturdy).

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Yeah Major Chords give a bit of Jazzy Feel. Recently trying to play jazz on piano and it's amazing how just a little changes in chords completely transform the sound.

Music is pretty amazing. 

Hymn of the North sound a bit Jazzy, lounge, until the big scary break comes in. 

A Jazzy Pulp album ? Yes please 

-- Edited by andy on Monday 27th of November 2023 11:25:35 AM

Violin Thing wrote:

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Do the chords sound quite similar to you as to Background Noise? Might just be me, but wondered if they might be cousins and maybe only one will end up being recorded.

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Yes it's C and F and G (not major). It sounds a bit like Heroes to me (on the verse, the synth fill behind it). 

It's a very basic chord progression, used in Common people as well, or Born to Cry or Cunts are Running, on Disco 2000 although quite differently.... I think Jarvis has used it many many times. To me they sound quite different, Background Noise is more a distant cousin to Glory Days or Like a Friend, which were already sibblings. 

Those chords fit Jarvis's voice pretty well that's probably why he used them so much. they sound cool on guitar as well. 

But a song is not the chords, it's what you put on top of it. Chords are flour, eggs and and all that stuff. Then you add the sugar (melody & lyrics) and maybe some fruits, icing and stuff (production) and you got the perfect cake.

But those two songs, me likey. They sound like Pulp circa This is Hardcore, but with a more symphonic potential. I'm hyped 1000%, hope something good comes out it

-- Edited by andy on Monday 27th of November 2023 03:11:40 PM

-- Edited by andy on Monday 27th of November 2023 03:21:41 PM

hehe

That whole conversation made me think of Pulp again, i tried This is Hardcore on piano and its finally unlocked in my head. Huge song to play on piano.