Surely Pulp vocalist Jarvis Cocker hasn't turned into a hippie? Note the title of the new album, "We Love Life." Note that it's produced by '60s maverick Scott Walker. And, above all, note that it's all about . . . nature. A Pulp album not about sex? Well, there's bits of sex in it, of course, but basically Cocker is now "into" nature. So there's more "birds and bees" than shagging in the back of a Cortina while snorting poppers. Sounds a bit dodgy, I agree. But it isn't.
"We Love Life" will not disappoint Pulp fans and may even win a few new converts, although this seems unlikely. Pulp might be just as cool as they were at the height of Britpop, when they were headlining the Glastonbury Festival, but they're certainly not as trendy, and that's what sells records.