English rock band Pulp has been on their reunion tour for the past few weeks, playing as a band (with the exception of the late bassist Steve Mackey) for the first time in roughly a decade (Via Stereogum). Their latest stop was in Sheffield, England at the Utilita Arena of Sheffield and with their performance came a surprise; a performance of an unreleased song titled “Hymn of the North.”
As they neared the end of their performance on their second night at the Utilita Arena, Pulp’s frontman Jarvis Cocker came to the front of the stage and introduced the song. He said “I can promise you no one has ever heard this song except for us on this stage. Actually, that is a lie. It’s a song – a kind of version of it was featured in a play by a guy called Simon Stephens. And it’s called ‘Hymn of the North’ “. He jokes that Sheffield is in the north of England as the band prepares to perform the song.
As he sits at the piano with his fellow band member Candida Doyle, Cocker says “We’ve had some lively discussions as to whether we were actually going to try and play it. There’s a lot that could go wrong with it; I’m playing the piano, for a start. But Candida’s going to help get fingers right.”
From there, the performance begins in full, opening with soft tones and keys on the piano, before gradually picking up pace as new instrumentals begin introducing themselves to the melody. The song itself is calming while also does a great job in painting a picture of Pulp’s “northern star”.
Pulp’s next and final performance of their reunion tour is scheduled for July 21st in Suffolk, England for the Suffolk Latitude Festival.
Check out our previous articles on Pulp below:
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