New Music: Spike Island

           

The indie icons Pulp have announced a new album, "More," and it'll be out in June and shared their first single in almost 24 years,"Spike Island". The album it’s dedicated to the memory of bassist Steve Mackey, who passed away in 2023. Opening track "Spike Island," which Pulp debuted live in Chicago last September, is the LP's lead single. Jarvis Cocker co-wrote the song with Jason Buckle, his partner in the short-lived electro duo Relaxed Muscle. It’s inspired by the famous show that the Stone Roses played on the titular island in 1990. Buckle was there. Cocker was not, but he heard all the stories about the DJ who got on everybody’s nerves by repeatedly yelling, "Spike Island, come alive". The video is extremely funny. Cocker directed the clip, it features his attempts to use AI to reanimate the photos from Pulp's Different Class CD booklet. The results are nightmarish, and they effectively skewer the entire concept of the AI music video. Apparently, though, that skewering might've been unintentional.