Jarvis Cocker has confirmed that Pulp are finally reuniting for a series of concerts next year.
In a Live Q&A hosted by The Guardian today, the singer broke the news. “Next year Pulp are going to play some concerts,” he said in response to one question.
While further details are unknown at this juncture, 2023 makes sense for a Pulp reunion: next year will be the 25th anniversary of the English rock band’s 1998 album This Is Hardcore, which topped the U.K. Albums Chart and reached number 15 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Several years ago, NME named it as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Cocker actually used a line from the title track earlier this week to tease new music. “What exactly do you do for an encore?” flashed across the screen in the short Instagram clip.
Pulp last performed together in 2013, almost a decade ago. They haven’t released an album since 2001, however, when We Love Life reached the Top 10 of the U.K. Albums Chart.
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Cocker, of course, has continued to release music post-Pulp. Last year, he shared Chansons d’Ennui Tip Top, a companion piece to Wes Anderson’s film The French Dispatch. The album featured covers of some of the best French pop music of all time, including songs made popular by the likes of Françoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot, and Jacques Dutronc.
Under the name Jarv Is, he released the album Beyond the Pale in 2020, which incorporated live recordings and was defined by the band as being an “alive album.”
Cocker was taking part in The Guardian Live Q&A while promoting his new memoir, Good Pop, Bad Pop. “What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?” the official description asks.
“We all have a random collection of the things that made us – photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions:
Who do you think you are? Are clothes important? Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?… This is not a life story. It’s a loft story.”
Next question on THAT Instagram post from last week. JC: “It was deliberately cryptic. It’s a line from This Is Hardcore… Next year Pulp are going to play some concerts!”
HUGE APPLAUSE!!!
— Acrylic Afternoons (@AcrylcAftrnoons) July 25, 2022
