Pulp @ OVO Hydro, Glasgow, 7 Jun

At the end of their initial run, it’s fair to say Pulp petered out. Their 2001 album We Love Life lacked any killer singles, and there was a sense that the band that had given voice to so many 90s misfits had been overtaken by newer, shinier toys. Over time, though, absence made the heart grow fonder. They re-emerged for a well-received run of shows a decade ago, but in terms of new music, they released just one, somewhat underwhelming single – 2013's After You – which failed to crack the top 100.

Frontman Jarvis Cocker had found plenty to fill the intervening years, from solo records to spinning tracks on BBC Radio 6 Music, but in the absence of new music, another Pulp tour in 2023 felt a little like a band trading on old glories; shows that filled the wallet but perhaps not the heart. 

No such complaint can be levied at year’s tour, which is not only accompanied by a new record, but that the album in question, More, happens to be great – flipping their singer’s witty lyrics and dissection of friendship, sex and ageing into a rich and worthy addition to the Pulp canon.

Tonight, a red velvet curtain drapes across the stage and over the PA, a woman's voice booms, “This is an encore. An encore occurs because the audience wants more”. There’s certainly a keen sense of anticipation. It seems the half of Glasgow who are not at Primavera this weekend are packed into the Hydro. As the curtains open, Jarvis Cocker rises at the rear of the stage, flanked by cutouts of his bandmates in their 90s prime. It’s only when he twitches to life that it is clear which Pulp member is real and which are fake.

Surrounding him on a set that resembles an old episode of Top of the Pops, complete with disco lights and a large flight of steps, are at least eight string players, the remaining three core members of Pulp and a handful of additional touring players. The singer is, of course, a generational talent as a frontman, a purveyor of both biting lyrics and snakehipped dance moves, which the years barely seem to have sapped.

Pulp by Serena Milesi

Most importantly, though, the three new songs, which open the first of two sets divided by a short interval, earn their place alongside the 90s classics that helped to fill the Hydro tonight. Recent single Spike Island plays like the narrator of Sorted Out For E’s And Whizz looking back on youthful indiscretions, while Grown Ups and Slow Jam are the kind of tightly sketched studies that Jarvis has made his speciality for more than three decades.

While the biggest cheers may be reserved for indie disco classics like Babies and Do You Remember The First Time?, there are very few bum notes, even as Jarvis leaps, thrusts and twists his way across the stage. Perhaps only Got To Have Love scans as a rare stumble; heartfelt but relatively simplistic among a collection of songs that have always strived to make you think as much as they make you dance.

Pulp by Serena Milesi

For This Is Hardcore, he’s joined by a pair of backing singers in glittering dresses, while the second set sees the audience weigh in to choose cult B-side Seconds – “a monster”, in the frontman’s words – over album track Dishes. Finally, it’s time for Common People, perhaps the greatest artefact of the entire Britpop era, and it’s just as effervescent and relevant as ever, triggering sing-alongs from floor to ceiling as confetti rains down.

That’s not quite it, though, with the members emerging in front of the curtain for a stripped-down closing rendition of A Sunset, the gentle closing track from the new album.

Pulp are truly back. We want more.