Pulp – Something Changed Review

Something Changed was once described as the “most romantic song [Pulp] ever managed to write.” Is that still true? Does More or even After You, their James Murphy-produced single, which rounded off their first reunion, improve on the Different Class single? No. That’s the short answer. It’s not because of a lesser quality; there are some songs on More that trump the straight-shooting love found on Something Changed. It’s the purpose and depth of that feeling that changes. It makes them borderline incomparable. A song about being in love can hardly compare to one about being out of it. Something Changed is about as clear a love song as can be. Pulp does not come through with seedy His ‘n’ Hers-like strengths nor desperate, clawing loneliness as heard on This is Hardcore. But there is a new layer, now. Something Changed is strong because of its simplicity. 

Seeking out the synonyms for love in song is all too often a display of trying too hard. Let the heart speak, that is what Something Changed does. Jarvis Cocker has written sharper, richer songs than this, but they are not written with the straight dedication to being in love and reflecting on the ongoing happiness. A song like Tina from More centres on the possibility of the love heard in Something Changed. Background Noise, another rip from their recent album, has the reflection take a darker, lonelier turn. That isn’t heard on Something Changed because a ballast to those emotional highs wouldn’t make sense. It’s a beautiful song where the expression is nothing but positivity, a rarity for a Pulp song, but a welcome change of tone. Something Changed is a dependable classic which has yet to lose its charm. Part of that comes from the simpler route taken to the heart, but part of it is in gauging the anxieties of love.  

That much doesn’t come in until the end of the song. What precedes it is a love letter, not a literal one, but an appreciation for the suddenness. Love can change a life, that is the theme Something Changed so wonderfully captures and maintains. Change is present, but whether it is an improvement over a previous situation or a worsening of it, that is what the song keeps to itself. Simple is a bit of a bait and switch for Pulp. To write an inherently simple love song which connects with people on a fundamental level is, in and of itself, not simple. It’s a tricky style which songwriters still struggle with today. Cocker nailing the rising vocal urgency, the change in the way the protagonist and the sudden lover are headed, is magnificent. Change is what you make of it, that much is true for Something Changed.  

Simplicity is not offered. It is a clarity, not a psychological one, but of the immediate action and its impact. An open mind to what may come next is rare to have, especially in times of doubt and crisis. But Pulp holds steady with some wonderful arrangements. A string section which would feature far more on More, and a brief instrumental break which brings about an emotional swell like no other. It’s the “maybe” and “what next” that pair together and cause all sorts of highs and lows, sometimes at the same time. That’s the real strength of Something Changed, and it’s a style the band has relied on time and again. It suits them well, and a softer touch from Nick Banks behind the drum kit is essential in finding that sound. Cocker has written about love, and written about it well, for decades. Something Changed still stands tall as one of his best, but it’s the instrumentals which surround it that bring it to this high point.