Great interview, worth a read. Myself still cant believe Mark became a pulp member like that.

I had my shot too when i met Jarvis, maybe i should just have asked he would have said yes, maybe 

Sure, it's a big 'un though...

 

Pulp makes its big comeback with More: thrills guaranteed
by Sophie Rosemont
Published on June 3, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Updated on May 22, 2025 at 11:36 a.m.

Pulp releases "More," their first album since 2001, and a success worthy of the great "Different Class," which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Before the band's only concert in France, at La Route du Rock on August 15, we meet with its founder and chief dandy Jarvis ****er, as well as with its guitarist Mark Webber.

Spring 2025. Wandering through the National Portrait Gallery in London, along the exhibition dedicated to one of the most influential English magazines, The Face, it's impossible to miss Pulp. Jarvis ****er hamming it up on the covers, Common People resonating among the national anthems of the era's pop shift, both chic and resounding. So British, in short. Because, after a laborious start, the Sheffield band led by Jarvis ****er occupied the top of the charts for several weeks thanks to Different Class (1995). Admittedly, without achieving the phenomenal success of Blur or Oasis, but with a reputation as a band so weirdo that it could not claim any rivalry with others.
I wondered if that was why I hadnt become popular, even though we had become famous, says Jarvis ****er, wearing a velvet jacket and wild locks, legs crossed on the sofa where he will speak to us at length on this last day of March in Paris, peeling a handful of clementines. Maybe I didnt think it would ever happen, and when it did, I had to stop dreaming. And I found that quite difficult. I much prefer fantasy to reality .

Thirty years in the teeth

In 1998, the less hit but superb This Is Hardcore confirmed Pulp's status as a dashing outsider, then severely weighed down by the lack of success of the mixed We Love Life (2001), at the dawn of the 21st century that the band has constantly announced, without being ready to live there for good. Disappearance from the radar, therefore. The flame kept alive by some solo work from ****er Jarvis (2006), Further Complications (2009), Beyond the Pale (2020) with his band JARV IS and even covers of French classics for Wes Anderson's film The French Dispatch , Tip-Top: Chansons d'ennui (2021), as well as an escapade with Chilly Gonzales ( Room 29, 2017) until a new live reformation of Pulp, two years ago. The rooms are packed, singing along to these words from Mis-Shapes : We want your homes, we want your lives/We want the things you won't allow us .

Because the opening of Different Class affirmed, loud and clear, that one could be both pop and marginal or the other way around. And not deprive oneself of any ambition. Starting with that of Jarvis ****er, who had led this group since 1978, with already four albums and several fledgling formations, and whose career had been interrupted by an accident that could have cost him his life in this case, falling from a window while imitating Spider-Man, in order to impress the one he loved.
By 1995, Jarvis ****er was already in his thirties and knew his chances of success were running out. The Babies track from the 1994 album His 'n' Hers had made a name for Pulp in England. And alongside Pulp's frontman, Steve Mackey (bass), Candida Doyle (keyboards), and Nick Banks (drums), was the addition of their fan club president, Mark Webber, on guitar. He's the one we have in front of us, alongside ****er on this spring afternoon, with the release of More still to be announced but we'd listened to it compulsively in the days leading up to it, amazed by its excellence.

Of course the common people are real, and Jarvis has been their proudest figurehead for over forty years.
We remind him that we really like the name of the fanzine he ran at the time, Cosmic Pig, which allowed him to approach Pulp: Yes, thats how I learned how a band worked, and the soundchecks in the afternoon. Even today, I cant believe that by going to ask artists if I could interview them for my stupid photocopied fanzine, I managed to become tour manager and guitarist for Pulp. Maybe because he was also part of the common people ? I suppose so Well, if they exist, he laughs.
Because in Pulp's biggest hit, its antihero narrator recalls a flirtation session with an art student who whispers to him, after thirty seconds, that she would like to live like "common people" ( in the original version), that is, belonging to the social class below his, and why not sleep with them. At these words, Jarvis ****er frowns doubtfully. Of course, common people are very real, he has been their proudest figurehead for over forty years. And if it is not worthy of them to sing, on one of their new anthems Grown Ups, "life is too short to drink bad wine" , an inscription appearing on one of the cushions in the maternal house, what else could be?

According to ****er, if you want to express a political opinion, it has to come from a personal event . In this, More largely invokes Different Class. Thirty years in the teeth, much more sentimental, the acuity nevertheless preserved. Jarvis ****er recounts, with his bipolar nonchalance, his moods in an individualistic, capitalist, toxic society, where nobody wants to be your friend/Because youre not from here (cf. Mile End, which will be used by Danny Boyle on the soundtrack of Trainspotting ), but whose game is often played without realizing it.

The importance of fantasies

On A Sunset , ****er continues to avenge his (different) class via the metaphor of a sunset that people might or might not be able to afford: So now Im learning the law/The first rule of economics?/Unhappy people spend more . More also allows for character reincarnation: Disco 2000s girlfriend, Deborah, has become Tina, who lends her name to a track on the new album and makes an appearance on Grown Ups. I certainly have a weakness for names ending in 'a,' he smiles. But this girl named Tina, she really existed! And it seemed only right that she had her own song. I don't think I ever spoke to her once. At unlikely moments, I saw her appear. Even when I moved to London. It never went any further, but she obsessed me. The song also talks about the importance of fantasies, because our lives revolve around them.

Let's talk about fantasy... One of the cornerstones of Pulp 's narrative ? Sex, as much through the sweaty reveries it provokes as through the sometimes unsettlingly crude observations. "Little girl (with blue eyes)/There's a hole in your heart/And one between your legs , " he sang in 1985 on Little Girl (With Blue Eyes). Today, we're literally treated to a song called My Sex . Yes, Jarvis ****er's. "I've had that title in my head for a long time... Having been raised mostly by women, I think I have a strange idea about sex, which I learned by listening to them talk. When it came time to get involved in this field as a heterosexual man, it was an interesting but not very useful starting point, because I spent my time criticizing myself and had an ambivalent attitude towards sex, which is reflected in this song." Where Jarvis gives us a great punchline: I haven't got an agenda/I haven't even got a gender.
And he explains: I've always had a bit of a problem with the exclusivity of desire, and when I wrote these lyrics, I thought it could be interpreted in a way that was less clear than mine. With my wife [artistic consultant Kim Sion], I'm determined to be a better person and share my music with her, which I didn't really do before with my partners. So I played her all the tracks on More, and when she heard My Sex, she looked at me questioningly: 'Are you trying to tell me you're gay?' I told her no. But every time she listens to it, I know she wonders what the hell I was trying to say. Mark Webber laughs. We do too, and the person concerned too, delighted with his little effect.

Shaman or showman

Because if there is one performance artist who knows how to stay behind the scenes, it is him, despite what he says in Sunset : I would have liked to teach the world to sing/But I have no voice or on the opening with swirling guitars of the single Spike Island : Not a shaman or a showman [] /I took a break and decided not to waste my life . That being said, he is not averse to contradiction since he asserts in the sequel: I was born to perform/That is why I exist, to shout and point fingers.
However, the expertly disheveled sixty-year-old dandy had to adopt a new method for making More . When you start a band, you write songs, you play them, and you see what people think. I was afraid of delivering a ready-made song that people might not like. It was like thinking before you act. But the problem was, I was overthinking, making up lyrics, changing them, and rambling. Frankly, annoying. That's what led Pulp to break up in the early 2000s. You have to put your mind to work to come up with ideas, but to make them happen, you have to be clever with your intellect, otherwise you never get anything finished and you go off in all directions, a flaw I'm perfectly guilty of.
James Ford has managed to preserve the sonic identity of Pulp while giving More a coherence that is his secret
The presence of a new producer in the highly sought-after James Ford undoubtedly contributed to the solidity of the album's eleven tracks. It's good to have someone running the console, but discreetly. James would hear us play and then comment on whether the song worked or not. That's all we needed. In that, he reminded us of Chris Thomas. The conductor of Pulp's two best albums, Different Class and This Is Hardcore . Many of the producers at the time had their own signature sound, while Chris had recorded the most successful records by musicians from very different backgrounds. James Ford is a bit like that, he varies styles to enhance the substance.

This was not the case for the late Scott Walker, who had officiated at the helm of We Love Life : Scott was brilliant, fascinating, but he didnt have the soul of a producer, recalls Mark Webber. And without a guide, we risked floundering. As he did with the Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine, Fontaines DC or Depeche Mode, James Ford managed to preserve the sonic identity of Pulp while giving More a coherence that is his secret.

Keep North

But before that, they had to want to get together. We have more of a distant family relationship, analyzes guitarist Mark Webber. We dont share much on a daily basis, but we have a rich musical history. Thats what comes out when we play together. Its weird at first, but we dont forget how to make a song together. Nor how to play it. Pulps successful 2023 reunion tour was a testament to this, which triggered Mores shift. During the tour, we realized that it wasnt just old people our age in the audience. Which could have been scary, observes Jarvis ****er. We had never been very popular in America, and suddenly, a new interest emerged, parents were bringing their children, we were even seeing very young adults It was almost destabilizing, adds Webber.

Just before the concerts began, Steve Mackey passed away prematurely, at the age of 56, in March 2023, after several weeks of battling an illness that had taken its toll on him. When we talk about him, Jarvis ****er's face immediately darkens: His death was undoubtedly a major factor in the genesis of More . When a loved one dies, they can no longer bring anything new to the table. But we can remember him in the studio. Especially since my mother died shortly after. I then realized that I still had things to write and sing, and I told myself that it was really worth trying . And so it was, first with an assuredly lyricistic The Hymn of the North , in which he addresses his son Albert, urging him not to stray far from his roots... and not to lose the north, while we're at it.

When my mother died, a few months after Steve [Mackey], I realized I could have talked to her more Jarvis ****er
This piece was originally intended for a play by English playwright Simon Stephens, Light Falls, which tells the story of a mother who dies in a supermarket aisle ( also common people ), driven by her alcoholism, thinking about what might become of her children and her boorish husband. It made me rethink my relationship with family. At the time, my son was probably 16. He was destined, one day or another, to leave home Its interesting that were having this conversation, because today hes leaving to live in London. But when I wrote The Hymn of the North, I was petrified that he would make those kinds of decisions. Or maybe I just thought that one day he wouldnt want to talk to me anymore, probably because of a feeling of guilt Id never felt before. When my mother died, a few months after Steve, I realized I could have talked to her more.
We ask him if it doesn't worry him too much that Albert has become a musician like him: "Luckily, he's not alone, he's in a band [Spanish Horses], he collaborates with his girlfriend... I suppose he's experimenting as far as he wants and can go... What I remember is that he's joining me in London and that we'll be able to see each other more often." Because Jarvis ****er now lives between the English capital and the countryside, not far from Sheffield. And his son has just handed over the keys to the Parisian apartment where his parents moved when he was born. "Even when I separated from my first wife, I absolutely wanted to stay in her life, in her city... unlike my father who disappeared to the other side of the world when I was a child. After high school, when Albert had to leave his mother's house, he moved into this apartment. Today, I've moved all my things, and there you have it, the Parisian chapter is over." Nostalgic? No, rather happy to return as a tourist who is clearly more informed than the average.

A separate space-time

Let's get back to this Hymn of the North . On stage in Sheffield, it worked , Webber remembers. Same in London. And it felt good to play a new song. First, we said to ourselves that we would see how many more we could do, in order to integrate them into the set and play them, for a bit of fun . Which led them into the studio with James Ford. Welcome to the home of the hits, announces ****er in Partial Eclipse and, indeed, that's all there is here. We thus dive into the separate space-time of Pulp, between diverted new wave, rogue pop, villainous postpunk, funky and silky soul, and even lyrical folk for the conclusion A Sunset, whose choirs were provided by Brian Eno's family. Its strange that it still feels like Pulp without us looking for it, Webber remarks. That can only be possible because were all in the same room together.

We always wanted to create an atmosphere, ****er chimes in. Personally, Im not a very good instrumentalist, so you have to give it form either through words or through a sound image. Im glad you mentioned Pulps space-time, because when you listen to a song, you escape from reality, you float for a few moments In fact, thats what put me off when the CD arrived: the display of the length of the songs! Because it doesnt matter. Absolutely nothing can happen on a six-minute song, just as you can get tired of another one that doesnt last more than fifteen seconds. On an Elvis Presley song, theres everything: birth, death, resurrection. In two minutes and forty!
There are only eleven songs on this record. But it is, I believe, as deep as it needs to be. 
More Pulp, then. Because the 2023 tour was called the Encore Tour and we approached it as an encore, ****er recalls. And after the encore, what happens? Everyone go home? jokes Webber. Nooooo, we want more! exclaims ****er. We want it to keep going! Granted, we havent released many albums in our career, and there are only eleven songs on this record. But its, I think, as deep as it needs to be. It alternates between ironic and poignant ballads (Slow Jam, Background Noise, Partial Eclipse) and immediately catchy uptempo tracks , from Spike Island, the first single from More, to Grown Ups or Got to Have Love , which evokes Dont Let Me Be Misunderstood with the disco flavor of Santa Esmeralda. ****er smiles: I'm just a fool whose intentions are good, he croons, according to the lyrics. We take this as a confession.

Being wrong about everything

An idiot with good intentions: even if he's clever enough to highlight his flaws and weaknesses, that's what More, a logical sequel to Different Class set three decades apart , is about . And where we're wrong about just about everything, despite the ultimately not-so-great endings, especially concerning love, whose multiple manifestations More deciphers . A couple falling apart, "like the buzzing of a fridge that you notice once it's stopped," describes Background Noise, a late love at first sight, the euphoric memories of yesteryear, the despair at the idea of being alone until we die, the unexpected and saving encounters, the flames that are rekindled.

When love disappears, so does life, robbing you of the one thing that could save you, ****er reminds us in Got to Have Love. Especially if you think about it too much. Its not a concept album, but a lot of the songs are about experiencing things rather than intellectualizing them. He repeats this several times in Farmers Market : Isnt it time to start living? Isnt it time to start feeling?
The workings of what is called love have always been very mysterious to me.

We listen to the exegesis of Jarvis ****er, who would like to be more romantic even if, alas, his lyrics have never been able to be favorable to him on a date: Because I always want to get to the bottom of things and resolve them. For example, the workings of what is called love have always been very mysterious to me. For a long time, I couldn't even say that word, it bothered me terribly. It was worse than a swear word. I don't know why, but I didn't tell anyone who I was in a relationship with. Without wanting to get too out of hand, I had a long relationship that ended [with his first wife, Camille Bidault-Waddington]. I realized that I had lost something important and that there was no way to get it back. What followed was a period where I was convinced that I would never know love again, that I had wasted my only chance. A tragedy! And Then, at a time when I didn't expect it to come back, it did. I almost got rid of it again, but I managed to ward off the self-inflicted curse. That's what inspired the songs on More , saying to myself, 'Can you stop ruminating for just a minute and try to relax?' Love is a work in progress.

12 years of mental age

Its so hard to act like a grown-up, sings Jarvis ****er on Grown Ups . More s most lyrically intense display, he goes through several vocal variations. And it took three decades to mature, as his first draft dates back to the This Is Hardcore era. When youre a kid, you ask yourself a lot of questions: what are you going to do for a living, what people talk about in the pub, and so on. As you get older, youre bound to be disappointed: you hear people talking about the same old ****. Of course, its hard to grow up. Obviously, you have more experience, and your attitude towards the world changes, more defiant, less enthusiastic, but you always have to be interested in it. Otherwise, whats the point? Although I think deep down, we never really change.

So, like many of us, the mental age of the members of Pulp hasn't changed much. Mark Webber frankly admits that he hasn't lived past his twenties. Acknowledging his maturity, Jarvis ****er gives us a broad, irresistible smile: "Oh really? I got stuck much earlier, somewhere between 8 and 12!"
More (Rough Trade Records/Wagram). Out June 6. Live at La Route du Rock, Saint-Malo, August 15.
cafeynPulp

The longest-serving champions of Pulp, the NME, weigh in. 4 stars but reads like 5, some nice descriptions here:

https://tinyurl.com/msxcjkje

Pretty fair NME review, But no way Slow Jam fits on TIH. Maybe Background Noise or Hymn of the North.

Uncut have rate More 4.5 !

www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/pulp-more-150009/

Do you remember the first time? Isnt that the question thats implied in every reunion tour, comeback album or immersive holographic experience? This summer you have the opportunity to see Oasis, AC/DC, ELO and 5ive for maybe the last time, each offering the promise that theyll recapture something of their elusive 20th-century magic and the slim chance they might transport you fleetingly back to your long lost youth.

Its an exclusive club that Pulp now join with some aplomb on More, their eighth and perhaps finest album. It should be no surprise that theyve taken their own sweet time in delivering their masterpiece. Over almost half a century theyve been an object lesson in a band slowly discovering their strengths, honing their craft, biding their time. Theyve matured not like a fine wine, but maybe like a magnificently ripe Wensleydale.

But initial signs were not hugely promising. The comeback single Spike Island scattered syndrums like hundreds and thousands over a slight fairy cake of a song, even as Jarvis ****er promised, like a member of the 1982 England football squad, this time Ill get it right. Funnily enough, the video, a disturbing experiment translating the black and white cut-outs from the Different Class cover through the distorting mirror of AI, was more promising, demonstrating some curiosity in how a group forged in the long, dark 1970s might find a fresh context amid the pixelated nightmares of the 2020s.

shaman/showman/tragi-comic national dramatist in Jarvis, something that weve sorely missed since Pulp first called it a day back in 2002.

Theres a dark background to More, the deaths of both Jarviss mum and of Pulp bassist Steve Mackey, to whom the album is dedicated, as well as the sudden illness of producer James Ford during recording. But on songs like Got To Have Love, Hymn Of The North and the closing A Sunset he seems to be singing himself back to the spirit of his 1960s childhood, before his dad left and The Beatles broke up sarky but optimistic Northern singalongs about the unlikely redemptive power of love. Id like to teach the world to sing, he mutters ruefully at the end of the record, but I do not have the voice. On More he rediscovers a voice that he misplaced for 24 years and, corny and sentimental as it may sound, its even better than the first time.

Ugh, I was waiting for The Irish Times review and hoping they wouldn't give it to journo Ed Power who gave them two stars for their Dublin gig in 2023. Surprise surprise, the doofus gets another chance to slag-off the band..

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/review/2025/06/06/pulp-more-review-jarvis-****er-and-cos-great-bait-and-switch/