Another spot of unreleased material from one of the finest UK exports of this and last century, Pulp are on the warpath towards an inevitable release. Do not say it out loud. Keep those murmurs as they are. Quiet observations of what we know to be true, but what has not yet been announced. At least it hasn’t in the blistering colds of November when bands are piecing together their announcements, their tour dates and their plans for the future. No new album, Nick Banks and Jarvis Cocker both said separately. What else is there to do in a studio? A fresh coat of paint and tuning instruments for Geordie Greep in a Walthamstow studio? No. You make Got to Have Love, or at least revitalise it from the We Love Life demos, finally giving it the lyrical kick those instrumentals were crying out for. It takes time. Lyrical constipation passes and we now have our hands on a fulfilling song from Cocker and company.
Yes, it may be in its live form at present and all we can do is hope for a release somewhere along the way but the promise of new material, the existence of it, is brilliant. For it to be of this quality is a masterstroke nobody was truly expecting given the gap between their most recent release, the forgotten but lovely Hits album from 2002. A quarter of a century later Cocker has found the right words to pay with a charming instrumental piece. Those backing vocals – the choir punchiness of Got to Have Love – are outstanding. A brief introduction reappears later on in the song, one which was dropped from We Love Life for whatever reason. It does not quite fit with the mellow tones of their nature-themed final album and this is probably the best live song Pulp has showcased so far.
Bouncing and groovy instrumental tones make the links back to His ‘n’ Hers or Different Class so clear. Punchy lyrical observations as expected from Cocker manage to overhaul what is a soppy message into this sincere boom of wondering what could have been. Card-playing risks make up that inevitable lull in the instrumentals where the build begins, Cocker taking over and rising to the occasion. A necessary blowout after the risks and gambles of life are documented is what it takes to get Got to Have Love to that euphoric spot Pulp works so well in. Those pangs of regret and the hindsight which come flooding through, overwhelming mistakes of the past and providing clarity are magnificent.
From the slick guitar solo Mark Webber pulls from nowhere to the Feeling Called Love-like attitude of spelling out its emotional blowout, Got to Have Love has Pulp classic written all over it. Likely bolstered by its ties to We Love Life, an adaptation rather than a from-scratch piece as After You was, it is hard not to feel excited about where Pulp is taking these new tones. How long we have to wait for a proper release is neither here nor there, the song is out in a live form which benefits the band entirely. Slamming percussion, an overwhelmingly complete feel to this one which has found its legs on stage rather immediately, it all comes together on Got to Have Love. How could it not?
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