Latest news with #JarvisCocker
The Independent
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Last gig at Sheffield's Leadmill music venue to feature indie favourite
Sheffield's famous Leadmill music venue has announced its final gig will be on June 27, featuring indie favourite Miles Kane. Last month, the club announced it would have to leave its premises in the city after losing a long-running eviction battle with its landlord, the Electric Group. On Wednesday, the venue announced the final gig, saying Kane's appearance will be 'a remarkable full stop to The Leadmill's concert history'. Live promoter Ben Hartley said: 'Miles has been a cherished friend of The Leadmill for well over a decade. 'After the support he has shown us throughout our eviction campaign and the countless memories of sold-out shows throughout the years, it feels entirely fitting that he joins us one last time to add a remarkable full stop to The Leadmill's concert history.' Well-known names such as Pulp's Jarvis Cocker pledged their backing to the club after it emerged in 2022 that the Electric Group had issued the eviction notice, triggering a lengthy legal battle. After it lost an appeal last month, The Leadmill said the judgment will mean the loss of more than 70 jobs. It described the decision as a 'heartbreaking moment not just for our team but for the entire Sheffield community' which 'feels like a betrayal of the cultural fabric of our city'. The appeal ruling came three months after a judge ruled in favour of the Electric Group, which owns the building and runs Electric Brixton in London plus venues in Bristol and Newcastle. The group has always stressed that it intends to keep it as a music venue, promising 'substantial investment' when it takes over the running of the club. After it won the court case in February, the Electric Group said: 'The successful legal outcome paves the way for a bright future for this venue, ensuring it will receive the substantial investment it needs to thrive. 'It will continue to be a cornerstone of the live music scene in Sheffield, supporting artists, fans and community projects for the next 100 years.' The Leadmill opened its doors 45 years ago and has played host to countless bands including Pulp, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Muse, Oasis, Stone Roses, The White Stripes, Jorja Smith and Michael Kiwanuka. A plaque on the building marks Pulp's first gig, which was at the venue in August 1980. Kane first performed at The Leadmill in 2011 and has gone on to sell out the venue a further four times as a solo performer, most recently in December 2023. He also appeared in 2007 as part of The Little Flames, who were opening for Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am from The Leadmill website.
Wall Street Journal
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘More' by Pulp Review: Satire and Sincerity
In the 1990s, the U.K. was in thrall to Britpop, the retro-leaning movement that was a more melodic answer to the grunge that had taken hold in the U.S. Among the biggest bands of the scene, Oasis had anthems, Blur had taste and Pulp had style. That last, Sheffield-based band, led by singer Jarvis Cocker, was initially an outlier because its first two albums came out in the '80s and weren't representative of what came later. But by 1994's 'His 'n' Hers,' Pulp had mastered its own brand of multifaceted guitar pop, which mixed glam rock, disco and punk. Mr. Cocker, whose persona was a magnetic fusion of Bryan Ferry's louche sexiness and Elvis Costello's wit, became one of rock's great frontmen. And then, after Pulp's 2001 album 'We Love Life,' produced by avant-pop legend Scott Walker, the group went its separate ways. The band's membership had always been fluid, though drummer Nick Banks and keyboardist Candida Doyle were there from nearly the beginning, and it was fair to assume after it split that Mr. Cocker would pick up where the band left off. But he had tired of Pulp's celebrity and pursued low-key solo projects. In what has become an increasingly common progression for once-disbanded groups, a series of reunion tours led to studio sessions and now, after 24 years, we have a new Pulp record. The stunningly strong 'More' (Rough Trade), out Friday, is a celebration of everything that made it great in the first place. The opening 'Spike Island' is both heavy and slinky, marrying a quasi-disco beat to a palpitating bassline that's at once sensual and menacing. Mr. Cocker, a bundle of jittery energy, spits out his lines as if he's walking briskly on the street next to you and trying to finish his story before heading down into the tube. He's an exceptionally good lyricist with an uncanny ability to mix satire and sincerity, and here he jokes about the absurdity of making a life in music while nodding to his band's history and extended absence: 'Not a shaman or a showman / Ashamed I was selling the rights / I took a breather / And decided not to ruin my life.' During his mellower solo years, Mr. Cocker has acquired some wisdom but has lost none of his mischievousness. Much of 'More' is about looking for love and breaking up, though nothing is ever simple. On the second track, 'Tina,' his narrator thinks he's found the perfect relationship, but he's never met his obsession and she doesn't know he exists: An outside observer would call him a deranged stalker. Mr. Cocker has an eye for telling images—here he imagines making love in a charity shop's storage room, 'The smell of digestive biscuits in the air.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Pulp Is Back for ‘More,' Their First Album in 24 Years. Even the Britpop Band Is Surprised
Pulp has returned with a new album, their first in 24 years. Who could've predicted that? Not even the band, it turns out. 'It took us by surprise as well,' dynamic frontman Jarvis Cocker told The Associated Press. 'Why not?' If there are casual Pulp fans, they don't make themselves known. The ambitious Britpop-and-then-some band emerged in the late-'70s in Sheffield, England, artistic outsiders with a penchant for the glam, grim, and in the case of Cocker, the gawky. Fame alluded them until the mid-'90s, and then it rushed in with the trend of Cool Britannia. Their songs varied wildly from their contemporaries, like the recently reunited Blur and soon-to-be back together Oasis. Instead, Pulp's David Bowie-informed synth-pop arrived with humor, ambiguity and intellect — songs about class consciousness that manage to be groovy, glib, awkward and amorous all at once. Then, and in the decades since, Pulp has inspired devotion from loyal fans across generations. They've charmed those lucky enough to catch band members in their heyday before a kind of careerism led to a hiatus in 2002 — and those who saw them for the first time during reunion tours in 2011 and 2022. With all that reputation on the line, it's reassuring that the band has decided to give its audience 'More,' their first new album in over two decades. Give them 'More' There were a few catalysts for 'More.' The first: 'We could get along with each other still,' jokes drummer Nick Banks. 'It wasn't too painful.' The second: The band worked a new song into their recent reunion show run — 'The Hymn of the North,' originally written for Simon Stephens' 2019 play 'Light Falls' — and people seemed to like it. The third and most significant: The band's bassist and core member Steve Mackey died in 2023. 'It made me realize that you don't have endless amounts of time,' Cocker says. 'You've still got an opportunity to create things, if you want to. Are you going to give it a go?' And so, they did. Cocker assured his bandmates Banks, guitarist Mark Webber and keyboardist Candida Doyle that the recording process could be done quickly — in three weeks, lightspeed for a band that has infamously agonized over its latter records, like 1998's 'This Is Hardcore.' Webber describes a 'reticence to get involved in a yearslong process' that was alleviated when they started to work on new songs which came 'quite easily.' That's at least partially due to the fact that, for the first time in the history of the band, Cocker elected to 'write the words in advance. ... It's taken me until the age of 61 to realize it: If you write the words before you go into the studio, it makes it a much more pleasant experience.' The 11 tracks that make up 'More' are a combination of new and old songs written across Pulp's career. The late Mackey has a writing credit on both the sultry, existential 'Grown Ups' originally demoed around 'This Is Hardcore,' and the edgy disco 'Got to Have Love,' written around 'the turn of the millennium,' as Cocker explains. 'I did have words, but I found myself emotionally unable to sing them.' 'Without love you're just making a fool of yourself,' he sings in the second verse. 'I got nothing else to say about it.' It makes sense, then, that the romantic song was held until 'More,' when Cocker believed them — coincidentally, after he was married in June of last year. A pop band reflects Maturation — the literality of growing up on 'Grown Ups' — is a prevalent theme on 'More,' delivered with age-appropriate insight. 'I was always told at school that I had an immature attitude. I just didn't see any point in growing up, really. It seemed like all the fun was had by people when they were younger,' said Cocker. 'But, as I said on the back of the 'This Is Hardcore' album, it's OK to grow up, as long as you don't grow old. And I still agree with that, I think. Growing old is losing interest in the world and deciding that you're not gonna change. You've done your bit and that's it. That doesn't interest me.' 'You have to retain an interest in the world and that keeps you alive,' he adds. 'So, you grow up. And hopefully you live better, and you treat other people better. But you don't grow old.' In addition to 'More,' 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the song that defines their career, 'Common People.' 'That one, we've never really fallen out of love with,' says Webber. 'Because of the way it affects people, really, you can't fall out of love with it,' adds Cocker. 'More,' produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C.), arrives Friday. The band will immediately embark on a UK and North American tour. Then, who knows? Is this the beginning of a new, active era for the band? 'The next one is going to be called 'Even More,'' Cocker jokes. 'Nah, I don't know. The album wasn't conceived of as a tombstone. ... The jury is out.' 'It wouldn't be good for it to end up feeling like you're stuck on a treadmill,' Banks adds. 'And at the moment, it's still pretty exciting.'
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Pulp is back for ‘More,' their first album in 24 years. Even the Britpop band is surprised
NEW YORK (AP) — Pulp has returned with a new album, their first in 24 years. Who could've predicted that? Not even the band, it turns out. 'It took us by surprise as well,' dynamic frontman Jarvis Cocker told The Associated Press. 'Why not?' If there are casual Pulp fans, they don't make themselves known. The ambitious Britpop-and-then-some band emerged in the late-'70s in Sheffield, England, artistic outsiders with a penchant for the glam, grim, and in the case of Cocker, the gawky. Fame alluded them until the mid-'90s, and then it rushed in with the trend of Cool Britannia. Their songs varied wildly from their contemporaries, like the recently reunited Blur and soon-to-be back together Oasis. Instead, Pulp's David Bowie-informed synth-pop arrived with humor, ambiguity and intellect — songs about sex and class consciousness that manage to be groovy, glib, awkward and amorous all at once. Then, and in the decades since, Pulp has inspired devotion from loyal fans across generations. They've charmed those lucky enough to catch band members in their heyday before a kind of careerism led to a hiatus in 2002 — and those who saw them for the first time during reunion tours in 2011 and 2022. With all that reputation on the line, it's reassuring that the band has decided to give its audience 'More,' their first new album in over two decades. Give them 'More' There were a few catalysts for 'More.' The first: 'We could get along with each other still,' jokes drummer Nick Banks. 'It wasn't too painful.' The second: The band worked a new song into their recent reunion show run — 'The Hymn of the North,' originally written for Simon Stephens' 2019 play 'Light Falls' — and people seemed to like it. The third and most significant: The band's bassist and core member Steve Mackey died in 2023. 'It made me realize that you don't have endless amounts of time,' Cocker says. 'You've still got an opportunity to create things, if you want to. Are you going to give it a go?' And so, they did. Cocker assured his bandmates Banks, guitarist Mark Webber and keyboardist Candida Doyle that the recording process could be done quickly — in three weeks, lightspeed for a band that has infamously agonized over its latter records, like 1998's 'This Is Hardcore.' Webber describes a 'reticence to get involved in a yearslong process' that was alleviated when they started to work on new songs which came 'quite easily.' That's at least partially due to the fact that, for the first time in the history of the band, Cocker elected to 'write the words in advance. … It's taken me until the age of 61 to realize it: If you write the words before you go into the studio, it makes it a much more pleasant experience.' The 11 tracks that make up 'More' are a combination of new and old songs written across Pulp's career. The late Mackey has a writing credit on both the sultry, existential 'Grown Ups' originally demoed around 'This Is Hardcore,' and the edgy disco 'Got to Have Love,' written around 'the turn of the millennium,' as Cocker explains. 'I did have words, but I found myself emotionally unable to sing them.' 'Without love you're just making a fool of yourself,' he sings in the second verse. 'I got nothing else to say about it.' It makes sense, then, that the romantic song was held until 'More,' when Cocker believed them — coincidentally, after he was married in June of last year. A pop band reflects Maturation — the literality of growing up on 'Grown Ups' — is a prevalent theme on 'More,' delivered with age-appropriate insight. 'I was always told at school that I had an immature attitude. I just didn't see any point in growing up, really. It seemed like all the fun was had by people when they were younger,' said Cocker. 'But, as I said on the back of the 'This Is Hardcore' album, it's OK to grow up, as long as you don't grow old. And I still agree with that, I think. Growing old is losing interest in the world and deciding that you're not gonna change. You've done your bit and that's it. That doesn't interest me.' 'You have to retain an interest in the world and that keeps you alive,' he adds. 'So, you grow up. And hopefully you live better, and you treat other people better. But you don't grow old.' In addition to 'More,' 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the song that defines their career, 'Common People.' 'That one, we've never really fallen out of love with,' says Webber. 'Because of the way it affects people, really, you can't fall out of love with it,' adds Cocker. 'More,' produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C.), arrives Friday. The band will immediately embark on a U.K. and North American tour. Then, who knows? Is this the beginning of a new, active era for the band? 'The next one is going to be called 'Even More,'' Cocker jokes. 'Nah, I don't know. The album wasn't conceived of as a tombstone. … The jury is out.' 'It wouldn't be good for it to end up feeling like you're stuck on a treadmill,' Banks adds. 'And at the moment, it's still pretty exciting.'
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pulp is back for ‘More,' their first album in 24 years. Even the Britpop band is surprised
NEW YORK (AP) — Pulp has returned with a new album, their first in 24 years. Who could've predicted that? Not even the band, it turns out. 'It took us by surprise as well,' dynamic frontman Jarvis Cocker told The Associated Press. 'Why not?' If there are casual Pulp fans, they don't make themselves known. The ambitious Britpop-and-then-some band emerged in the late-'70s in Sheffield, England, artistic outsiders with a penchant for the glam, grim, and in the case of Cocker, the gawky. Fame alluded them until the mid-'90s, and then it rushed in with the trend of Cool Britannia. Their songs varied wildly from their contemporaries, like the recently reunited Blur and soon-to-be back together Oasis. Instead, Pulp's David Bowie-informed synth-pop arrived with humor, ambiguity and intellect — songs about sex and class consciousness that manage to be groovy, glib, awkward and amorous all at once. Then, and in the decades since, Pulp has inspired devotion from loyal fans across generations. They've charmed those lucky enough to catch band members in their heyday before a kind of careerism led to a hiatus in 2002 — and those who saw them for the first time during reunion tours in 2011 and 2022. With all that reputation on the line, it's reassuring that the band has decided to give its audience 'More,' their first new album in over two decades. Give them 'More' There were a few catalysts for 'More.' The first: 'We could get along with each other still,' jokes drummer Nick Banks. 'It wasn't too painful.' The second: The band worked a new song into their recent reunion show run — 'The Hymn of the North,' originally written for Simon Stephens' 2019 play 'Light Falls' — and people seemed to like it. The third and most significant: The band's bassist and core member Steve Mackey died in 2023. 'It made me realize that you don't have endless amounts of time,' Cocker says. 'You've still got an opportunity to create things, if you want to. Are you going to give it a go?' And so, they did. Cocker assured his bandmates Banks, guitarist Mark Webber and keyboardist Candida Doyle that the recording process could be done quickly — in three weeks, lightspeed for a band that has infamously agonized over its latter records, like 1998's 'This Is Hardcore.' Webber describes a 'reticence to get involved in a yearslong process' that was alleviated when they started to work on new songs which came 'quite easily.' That's at least partially due to the fact that, for the first time in the history of the band, Cocker elected to 'write the words in advance. … It's taken me until the age of 61 to realize it: If you write the words before you go into the studio, it makes it a much more pleasant experience.' The 11 tracks that make up 'More' are a combination of new and old songs written across Pulp's career. The late Mackey has a writing credit on both the sultry, existential 'Grown Ups' originally demoed around 'This Is Hardcore,' and the edgy disco 'Got to Have Love,' written around 'the turn of the millennium,' as Cocker explains. 'I did have words, but I found myself emotionally unable to sing them.' 'Without love you're just making a fool of yourself,' he sings in the second verse. 'I got nothing else to say about it.' It makes sense, then, that the romantic song was held until 'More,' when Cocker believed them — coincidentally, after he was married in June of last year. A pop band reflects Maturation — the literality of growing up on 'Grown Ups' — is a prevalent theme on 'More,' delivered with age-appropriate insight. 'I was always told at school that I had an immature attitude. I just didn't see any point in growing up, really. It seemed like all the fun was had by people when they were younger,' said Cocker. 'But, as I said on the back of the 'This Is Hardcore' album, it's OK to grow up, as long as you don't grow old. And I still agree with that, I think. Growing old is losing interest in the world and deciding that you're not gonna change. You've done your bit and that's it. That doesn't interest me.' 'You have to retain an interest in the world and that keeps you alive,' he adds. 'So, you grow up. And hopefully you live better, and you treat other people better. But you don't grow old.' In addition to 'More,' 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the song that defines their career, 'Common People.' Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. 'That one, we've never really fallen out of love with,' says Webber. 'Because of the way it affects people, really, you can't fall out of love with it,' adds Cocker. 'More,' produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C.), arrives Friday. The band will immediately embark on a U.K. and North American tour. Then, who knows? Is this the beginning of a new, active era for the band? 'The next one is going to be called 'Even More,'' Cocker jokes. 'Nah, I don't know. The album wasn't conceived of as a tombstone. … The jury is out.' 'It wouldn't be good for it to end up feeling like you're stuck on a treadmill,' Banks adds. 'And at the moment, it's still pretty exciting.'
