Album Review: Pulp - More

Pulp’s More arrives like a quietly confident latecomer, a band showing that years on the clock only sharpen their wit and edge. Twenty-four years since their last album, Jarvis Cocker and his crew return with a record that feels lived in, playful, and unafraid to peer into the messiness of adult life.

The opening track "Grown Ups" sets the tone, self-aware and slightly wry, Cocker reflects on the tension between trying to act mature and feeling much the same as the younger man who first grabbed attention in the 90s. Across More, this perspective threads through both lyric and arrangement, creating a sense of intimacy even in the more grandiose moments.

Songs like "Tina" and "My Sex" carry the classic Pulp energy, provocative, witty, and unmistakably cheeky, but with a layer of hindsight that gives the playful narratives new weight. The band moves between lush strings, taut guitar lines, and subtle synth textures, keeping the album cinematic without overplaying its hand. "Spike Island" captures that same restrained power, building atmosphere with careful tension rather than spectacle.

Cocker’s voice is richer, warmer, threaded with experience, and the band’s performance is tight and assured. While the absence of longtime bassist Steve Mackey is noticeable, the record does not linger in loss, it celebrates the chemistry that remains and the stories still to be told.

More is Pulp in midlife, reflective but spirited, melodic yet mischievous, exploring desire, memory, and human foibles with intelligence and humour. It is an album that reminds you why this band mattered and still does, showing that even decades on, they can surprise, charm, and move with the same unmistakable flair.