Pulp initially ‘recorded We Love Life’ in Queen band member’s garden

The recording of We Love Life, Pulp‘s seventh studio album, began in the garden of a Queen band member.

According to Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, the group’s environmentally tinged studio effort, which released in 2001, found its footing in the lush greenery of a rock legend. Recalling their time in the garden during an interview with Jo Wiley, the band confirmed they had briefly been using the greenery as a place to seek inspiration for We Love Life. The album would eventually be taken to the studio under the supervision of producer Scott Walker. The legendary songwriter behind The Seventh Seal would prove crucial to the making of We Love Life, though Cocker and the band shared they had been looking for a far more out-there place to record. It marked their last album for twenty-four years, until the release of More in 2025.

A mention of Roger Taylor and his “massive statue of Freddie Mercury in his garden” had the band launch into memories of recording part of We Love Life in his garden. The Queen drummer and backing vocalist had allowed the group to use his garden to seek inspiration for their seventh studio album, which features songs like The Trees, Roadkill, and The Birds in Your Garden.

Keyboardist Candida Doyle said: “We’ve been to his house. I didn’t see that [Freddie Mercury statue] though. We started recording there once.” Mark Webber added: “We started recording We Love Life in his garden. It was in the mill in his garden.”

Frontman Cocker then noted there were “black swans” around the property. The band very nearly did not finish We Love Life after sessions with This is Hardcore producer Chris Thomas were shelved. Doyle recalled: “I certainly thought about leaving [after shelving the Thomas sessions] but I realised that I’d still feel shit even if I did. If Scott Walker hadn’t come about, I don’t think we’d have bothered to finish this LP.”

The “love life” part of the title had been a firm choice for the band, though it had a slightly altered name when first recording. Cocker explained the decision to change the Pulp Love Life album name. He said: “It always looked like the name of the band’s Pulp and the album’s called Love Life.”

Pulp returned with their first album in twenty-four years, More, this year. In a five-star review of the album, Cult Following hailed the band’s return, with the review reading: “Growing up is fine, as long as you don’t get old. Cocker finds the line between the two in a series of personable highs, all of which feature that fundamental Pulp energy, that push for more. It is the band going beyond their very best.”