Jarv Is…, the band fronted by Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, have announced their debut album, Beyond the Pale, due out on May 1st. In anticipation, Cocker has shared the new single, “House Music All Night Long”, as well as spring tour dates.
Cocker hasn’t put out an album of original music since 2009’s Further Complications, but Beyond the Pale isn’t just a comeback, it’s a reinvention. Along with his bandmates Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments), and Adam Betts (percussion, vocals), Cocker is attempting to write songs in collaboration with the audience. After forming at the tail end of 2017, they recorded some of their live concerts throughout 2018, until Geoff Barrow of Portishead encouraged them to use the tapes as the foundation for a new album. The results have been collected in Beyond the Pale, but not before receiving new overdubs and vocals, as well as some post-production polish courtesy of Jason Buckle.
“House Music All Night Long” picks up where the previous single “Must I Evolve?” left off. It’s an existential crisis inside of a swirling dance track, with disco-flared guitars, shimmering synths, and crisply-layered drums and 808s. The accompanying music video opens with a montage of ominous kitchen appliances, splicing refrigerators and diswhashers into footage of a suited Cocker dancing with neon smoke. It’s mesmerizing and funny, as if the goal were to put the “house” in “house music.” Check out the visuals below.
Beyond the Pale will be available in vinyl, CD, and cassette, arriving May 1st via Rough Trade Records. Pre-orders are ongoing, and you can check out the artwork and tracklist below.
May 1st, Jarv Is… kick off their 2020 tour in London, playing a handful of shows around the UK before ending with a one-night, two-performance stand at Elsewhere in Brooklyn. Scroll onward for the full list of tour dates.
In December, Cocker shared a new version of the old favorite, “Running the World”.
Jarv Is… 2020 Tour Dates:
05/01 – London, UK @ Rough Trade East In-store
05/02 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
05/03 – Birmingham, UK @ 02 Institute
05/05 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
05/06 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands
05/08 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
05/09 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
05/14 – New York, NY @ Elsewhere (Early Show)
05/14 – New York, NY @ Elsewhere (Late Show)
Beyond the Pale Artwork:
Beyond the Pale Tracklist:
Side 1:
01: Save the Whale
02: Must I Evolve?
03: Am I Missing Something?
Side 2:
01: House Music All Night Long
02: Sometimes I am Pharaoh
03: Swanky Modes
04: Children of the Echo
