It’s All Happening loved their socks, were rapt at the gifts of cheap aftershave, and utterly delighted with the sixth tin of Family Circle biscuits, but this post from Jarvis and the gang has got to top all the presents. The enviably lucky attendees of Pulp’s recent Sheffield homecoming show were were given Christmas cards with a download code for ‘a little present’ which was to be submitted to the band’s website on Christmas Day. Written in Jarvo’s satirical style, fans were instructed not to peak, as that would be ‘naughty.’
After You track was first demoed by the band during the sessions for 2001’s We Love Life, but this version is a new studio recording produced by James Murphy in the last couple of months, during their Coachella gigs. Plans for 2013 include ‘sailing off into the sunset.’ In a recent interview with Q Jarvis Cocker concluded that whilst ‘we’ve played for a while and it’s been really good…you can’t keep doing that forever.’
Until next time, we’ll take After You and be estatically grateful. Ta, guys.

Photo via Bar Italia

Francesca Baker

A band of two people, only one set of vocals and one instrument per song, just over three months on, and a five track EP. Not the stuff of seasonal excess – and so much the better for it. Minimalist but not emaciated, Low Duo have stripped back superfluities until all that remains is raw emotion and beautiful tunes to convey it. Sheffield brothers Adam and Leigh Greenwood, who have emerged from the embers of Dark Sparks to form their own two-piece outfit Low Duo state that ‘‘these are songs for the bedroom rather than the nightclub.’’ In this and the poetic emotion power, particularly of opener ‘Fifteen Years’ one can liken the listening experience that perhaps felt by early listeners of The Smiths, tumbling with their tortured soul. ‘I Want To Die on The Moon’ opens with harsh strikes against the guitar and strutting strings, which when laced with a solo strong yet vulnerable voice reminds of The Maccabees, especially in its intense build up. Foraging from some of the best of the musical canon, Low Duo have created a sound that is all their own. Church like chords on ‘I want to die on the moon’ are a little too repetitive, but the following ‘House On The Hill’ is redemptive in its haunting vocals. Both the lyrics and instruments are poetic, in the way that they encapsulate a feeling and confront you with it. Good stuff.