I'm inclined to go down this route at present though it will change:

1. Partial Eclipse
2. Hymn of the North
3. Got to Have Love
4. Slow Jam
5. Spike Island
6. Farmers Market
7. Background Noise
8. Grown Ups
9. Tina
10. My Sex (would be much higher up if it weren't for the chanted numbers)
11. A Sunset

Eamonn wrote:

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Yeah, i need to get used to the chanting in My Sex - is it "X" and "Y" as in chromosomes?

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 Maybe im wrong, but for me all is based in the verses:

"I haven't got an agenda
I haven't ven got a gender"

For me those voices saying "X" and "Y" and numbers are PRECISELY that: the chromosomes that makes us men or women, and the phone numbers we add to our agendas with mating purposes. Maybe it's just my theory, far from Jarvis original intentions, but.. doesn't  make all the sense in the world? (And to be honest, I absolutely LOVE the way the songs ends with those voices)

Easy - it has to be Hymn of the North. The chanting is part of the reason I love My Sex. Absolutely love the backing vocals on it. Otherwise, it's s very reminiscent of The Professional, isn't it? Which is always good. I keep hearing Separations and Don't You Want Me Anymore in one of the songs and Love is Blind talky bit in another. Need to listen again to remind myself which songs

Jean wrote:

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Easy - it has to be Hymn of the North. The chanting is part of the reason I love My Sex. Absolutely love the backing vocals on it. Otherwise, it's s very reminiscent of The Professional, isn't it? Which is always good. I keep hearing Separations and Don't You Want Me Anymore in one of the songs and Love is Blind talky bit in another. Need to listen again to remind myself which songs

-- Edited by Jean on Friday 6th of June 2025 09:01:14 PM

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The outro of Slow Jam contains a very appealing prominent keyboard line which is very Someone Like the Moon.

The distortion on Background Noise reminds me of Seductive Barry and The Day After the Revolution. 

I love More. There's a musical continuity and they're blending all of their previous albums together with even more developed, sophisticated ideas. It genuinely feels like the PERFECT Pulp evolution.

3:13-ish of The Hymn of the North - when the horns and the orchestra hit.... Listening to it again now and its made me a bit teary.

cutcopy wrote:

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3:13-ish of The Hymn of the North - when the horns and the orchestra hit.... Listening to it again now and its made me a bit teary.

-- Edited by cutcopy on Saturday 7th of June 2025 01:32:53 AM

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 Ouch. I wish I could love The Hymn Of the North as much as most of you do, but I have a serious problem with those six seconds (3:11 to 3:17) that get me completely OUT of the song, out of Pulp, out of whatever I'm doing. I'm stucked there. After that point, song is MAGICAL, but that confusing moment In the song has become an obstacle for me to enjoy the whole pack.  Guess it's my "The Night That Minnie Timperley Died " moment,  2025 version. On the other hand, "My Sex" grows with every listen, and I'd say now it's one of my Top 3, with Spike Island and Background Noise 

Slow Jam will be your number one by the end of the summer 

Slow Jam is the best thing I've ever heard in my entire life basically. Although so are like 10 other Pulp songs 

    1. My Sex

    2.Slow Jam

    3.Got to have love 

    4.Spike Island

    5.Partial Eclipse 

    6.Tina

    7.Grown ups

    8.Hymn of the North 

    9.Background Noise 

    10.Open Strings 

    11.A Sunset 

    12.Farmers market

Pip wrote:

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I think the reason My Sex came relatively low on my personal ranking is its similarity to The Professional. A strength of Pulp has always been how each album has its own sound and constantly took the band into a new direction. Anything that sounds even a little derivative is less appealing.

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I agree, it's too much of a rehash, but less good. it's still a good album track, but i dont know, if i was the band, i would have been a bit annoyed by this. The Professional was perfect, there was no need for a remix. Maybe they have forgotten about it (i'm sure they did not) 

My personal favorite is still Grown Ups. The first 3 listens did nothing for me, the it clicked. Great lyrics, classic Pulp build up but the melody and guitar parts area really a new sound for Pulp. It has everything, and its a really melancholic take on life, yet simple. a Jarvis Chef d'Oeuvre.  

andy wrote:

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My personal favorite is still Grown Ups. The first 3 listens did nothing for me, the it clicked. Great lyrics, classic Pulp build up but the melody and guitar parts area really a new sound for Pulp. It has everything, and its a really melancholic take on life, yet simple. a Jarvis Chef d'Oeuvre.  

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Similar here. First time I heard it I couldn't quite believe they'd done a song with such a blatant Britpop bounce to it at this stage in the game - and I think that's probably why it got left off Hardcore as they were understandably trying to disassociate themselves from all that. But once you get over that, it's a really good song, and as you say, great lyrics. There's something quite clever about how the rhythm doesn't change throughout the song, but somehow by the end it's anxious stabbing rather than carefree stomping.

triciathetree wrote:

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FWIW while I doubt it was his intention as such, My Sex does strike a chord if youre genderqueer.

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 I'm sure the thought didn't escape him. He's the maestro of multiple-meanings.

triciathetree wrote:

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FWIW while I doubt it was his intention as such, My Sex does strike a chord if youre genderqueer.

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Gender fluidity was the meaning that I initially prescribed to it, then I looked at it through the lens of my own bisexuality. Neither of which apply to Jarvis.
But as Eamonn says I'm sure he was well aware of the numerous ways it could be read into.

I think Jarvis' intended meaning is quite clear in The New Yorker interview.

_______________________________________________________________________

The second side opens with My Sex. (My sexis neither here nor there / is neither him nor her / Its an out-of-body experience.) How did that come about?

I thought that would be a good title. It could have turned into a kind of a jokey song, but I didnt want to do that. The second verse is a bit darker in a waythe stuff like, Love is invisible to the naked eye when its raised in the dark of two peoples minds. My wife doesnt like that one. She said, Are you trying to tell me that youre gay or something? She just didnt understand what it was supposed to be about.

I feel like that would be a bad way to tell someone that.

You know, I wouldnt put it past myself.

Youd have to admit that youre a bad communicator, interpersonally.

Yeah, exactly. I suppose part of that is because I learned about sex from being in a female household. I got a female perspective on the men in their lives. That was always there when I started trying to have relationships. I didnt want to act like a jerk, like a typical guy, because basically all the husbands had left their wives. My dad had gone. And my cousin across the yard, her dad had gone as well. So men werent very popular. And I didnt really have any kind of male figure to give me their side of the story.
_______________________________________________________________________

Instead of queerness I think it's more about gender roles and traits - he's trying to find and accept his identity as a straight cis man that doesn't match the traditional "macho" masculine expectation.
Being raised mostly around women he's had to navigate sex and identity without a male role model, picking up fragments from the female perspectives around him. "Hand-reared, one of a kind"

The line "my sex is neither him nor her" isn't claiming to be non binary but an alienation from traditional masculine behavior and energy.

"My sex is hard to explain, You can't melt it down in the rain" his gender is self-defined as opposed to learned or inherited. His masculinity isn't fragile - it won't melt in the rain. But it's not something straighforward.
He's not tethered to the conventional male narrative. He's open to viewing sex and love from different perspectives particularly those learned from the opposite sex.

"My sex is not forever, It's two silences stitched together" I love this line. At the core of intimacy is connection and quiet unspoken understanding, not performance or dominance.

"This love is too much to take in, what a strange love it's been" as a male he hasn't been socialised into handing emotional intimacy in the way women are and his understanding of love and sex is uncertain and overwhelming.

Sorry if I'm getting carried away here but I this is such a beautiful song. I think it runs the danger of many dismissing it as "just another song about single mothers and sex" but it's so much more.
It's a really self aware reflection about not conforming to gender norms. Instead of pretending and faking bravado he is embracing his vulnerability, awkwardness and uncertainty. It's not rejecting his male identity but it's redefining it in his own personal way.

-- Edited by jarvcore on Monday 9th of June 2025 07:41:46 PM

Absolutely. I've also always loved that he writes as a man who grew up in a home full of women. Do folks have thoughts about any of the songs on More possibly being written for his mom?

lucyduck wrote:

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My Sex
In the very beginning, I was like what? But I knew Jarvis wouldnt let me down. I love Jarvis romantic, if I can say so. The way he describes things is so unique, it always touches me. Really appreciate everyones information and opinions about this song, I did read the lyrics while listening to it today. It is way more than its title.

Slow Jam
I cant help thinking if Steve was alive, what does he do about the bass?!

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I agree, Jarvis talks about Sex sometimes in a very dirty way, buts its not dirty, its classy. Weird right ? 

As for Steve, its hard to speak for someone who isn't there anymore, but I highly doubt he would have greenlighted that bass. Could be wrong though, but Pulp never sounded 80s, even in the 80s, they sounded like Pulp. Must be a producer idea. 

I dont mind a bass like that on Seinfeld or the ALF theme show  but it really represents the 80s, it's very cliché. Perhaps the only mistake of the record. 

Slow Jam's great *because* of that bass. Sure, it's not what you might expect of Pulp, but when have we ever wanted them to stay confined to the same formula?

Maybe Steve wouldn't have gone for it but I'm sure he wouldn't have begrudged the band going on and them/Andrew doing something different.

And let's face it, it's hardly Mark King from Level 42.

lucyduck wrote:

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My Sex
In the very beginning, I was like what? But I knew Jarvis wouldnt let me down. I love Jarvis romantic, if I can say so. The way he describes things is so unique, it always touches me. Really appreciate everyones information and opinions about this song, I did read the lyrics while listening to it today. It is way more than its title.

Slow Jam
I cant help thinking if Steve was alive, what does he do about the bass?!

---

 he 100% wouldn't do that twang!

weener wrote:

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lucyduck wrote:

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My Sex
In the very beginning, I was like what? But I knew Jarvis wouldnt let me down. I love Jarvis romantic, if I can say so. The way he describes things is so unique, it always touches me. Really appreciate everyones information and opinions about this song, I did read the lyrics while listening to it today. It is way more than its title.

Slow Jam
I cant help thinking if Steve was alive, what does he do about the bass?!

---

 he 100% wouldn't do that twang!

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Agreed, he was a classy bass player, not showing off 80s style.

Glad i'm not the only one on this hehe. 

Ian wrote:

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"More" has at least 3 songs that could have easily fit on Walker's late 1960s albums.

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 When listening to More, a lot of the songs make me think of French chanson. Can't put my finger on what it is, maybe lots of semi-spoken singing, and the conversational parts of some of the lyrics. Triggered me to dig out Scott 1-4, a Jacques Brel comp, and some of the chanson comps I have. Been listening to them all week alongside More.

Also find it quite moving to find all the echoes and call-backs to Pulps back catalogue, yet it's also new and a step forward. What band in their 60s has come back so well? The backing vocals, having the JARV IS sound jarred at first, but I've got over that now. On the subject of favourite, I've shifted from Grown Ups to Hymn. The song I initially disliked, A Sunset, growing on me too.  

Slow Jam has been a favourite of mine since the JARV IS version from Bristol went on youtube. The slap bass doesn't bother me - again, Seinfield fan, maybe immune to it from 30 years of exposure - and for most of the song it's not high in the mix. Maybe the original was too mournful for More; they've upped the BPM from 75 to 90, and the bass gives it more propulsion.  I still prefer the slower brooding youtube version, the violin was striking, but mebby live there was more bass that the phone didn't pick up.

A Sunset - Just listening to the RTE interview from Jean's thread , Jarvis says they are having to pay a publishing cut to (?) Coca-Cola for it (or New Seekers?).

inspirit wrote:

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A Sunset - Just listening to the RTE interview from Jean's thread , Jarvis says they are having to pay a publishing cut to (?) Coca-Cola for it (or New Seekers?).

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Well of course they have to, its way too close. Shakermaker from Oasis was closer, but anyway, as soon as you use that lyric, Coca Cola will come after you 

Eamonn wrote:

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At last, someone else who dug the original Slow Jam/Bad Friday original! Tend to agree though I do think the choruses are killer on the album though.

Have you done a BPM comparison of Background Noise live v More?

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 Background Noise sounds a bit slower to me on the record, just a bit. Too bad really i think this remove a bit of that bitterness side to the song. Makes it more mellow. 

Might be due to the slap bass actually. Slap Bass does not accept a slow tempo. 

Eamonn wrote:

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That should have been your ice-breaker when you saw the lads in the queue for their flight from Glasgow to Dublin!

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 OMG can you IMAGINE!!!!  hahaha

Pip wrote:

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Interesting to see how our opinions differ! For me:

1. Spike Island
2. Slow Jam
3. Farmers Market
4. Partial Eclipse
5. Tina
6. Grown Ups
7. Got to Have Love
8. Background Noise
9. A Sunset
10. Hymn of the North
11, My Sex

This is Pulp though, so even the lowest ranked songs are decent - I would happily listen to the album in full as I would with all the others.

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 Been hammering the album in readiness for this week and realised 6 of my intial top 7 are songs being played on tour, which is rather pleasing. Grown Ups has grown on me a lot though, I might even rank that above Partial Eclipse/Tina now.

I'd have definitely taken After You on this instead of one of the ones I'm less keen on. And/or Jarvis' beautiful version of Cuckoo Song from a couple of years ago. It's a shame that this didn't happen before Jarv Is emerged and gave us the fantastic Beyond The Pale. Must I Evolve, House Music, Swanky Modes would all fit here perfectly.

Stephen wrote:

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One for another thread, maybe?

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 Yes please !