Twenty-first century boy

One of the most welcome comebacks of the past year has been the return of Jarvis Cocker, who finally got around to releasing his debut solo album five years after Pulp’s We Love Life. The eponymously titled record showcased Jarvis’ trademark lyrical wit to wonderful effect, with his observations on people’s private behaviour and the wider cultural scene as perceptive as ever.

As one of the star attractions at Electric Picnic, the question has to be asked – does Jarvis enjoy festivals generally?
“Well, yeah, you get some fresh air,” he replies, in his distinctive Sheffield tones. “It sounds very facile, but it is true. It’s quite good for me, cos I don’t really go out on long walks and stuff like that, but festivals get me out of the house.”
Although now settled in Paris with his wife and child, Jarvis did make the point in a recent South Bank Show documentary that, as an artist, he’s still trying to make some sense out of the world.
“I imagine that I’ll always be doing that,” he suggests. “You never make sense of it. Even if you think you have, then something will come along and shatter that illusion. I think you still have to try, because you have to engage with life, but I don’t think you ever get to the bottom of it.”
Another interesting point Jarvis made in the programme was that, prior to being famous, he felt that success would give him more confidence in social situations, but ultimately, despite fame and fortune, found that he was still the same person.
“There’s no getting away from yourself, that’s the trouble isn’t it? (Laughs) That’s what reality TV shows like Pop Idol and X Factor thrive on, this idea that fame will be like a magic wand that sorts your life out. Usually, it fucks people’s lives up.”
One of the best songs on Jarvis is the rather beautiful single ‘Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time’, originally written for Nancy Sinatra, who recorded the song for her self-titled 2004 album (in addition to another track also on Jarvis, ‘Baby’s Coming Back To Me’). Did Jarvis actually meet Sinatra?
“Yeah, when she did her version of it, I went over to Hoboken for the recording,” he explains. “It was weird, cos Hoboken was where her Dad came from, so walking around there with Nancy Sinatra was like walking around with royalty. You’d go into a restaurant with her and they’d give you the best table and complimentary wine. But she’s very nice.
“At the point when I gave her that song, I was thinking that it might be a bit more dignified for me to become a songwriter for other people. I was getting on a bit and acquiring family responsibilities and so on. I was happy with Nancy’s versions of the songs, but because I’d written them, I felt they were my songs. I suppose doing that stuff for her was the first stage of me realising that I wanted to make my own record.”
Jarvis recently appeared in the excellent Scott Walker documentary 30th Century Man. Walker, of course, produced We Love Life, the final album before Pulp’s current indefinite hiatus. Is he someone that Jarvis still sees?
“I haven’t seen him for a bit,” he says. “I last saw him when The Drift came out and Q got me to interview him, but I’ve not seen him since then. He doesn’t go out (laughs).”
In 30th Century Man, Walker came across as someone who’s perhaps not that comfortable in his own skin.
“He’s fairly comfortable with himself, but he’s very shy, so social situations cause him a bit of grief. His shyness really affects the way he lives his life, but once you get to know him he’s a straightforward guy.”
Jarvis also made an appearance in another fine music documentary, Lian Lunson’s Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, and performed in Hal Willner’s series of Cohen tribute evenings, Came So Far For Beauty (which included a date in Dublin). Did Willner himself ask Jarvis to participate in the show?
“I muscled my way in,” reflects Jarvis. “I’ve never done anything like that before. I heard that they were going to do it in Brighton, and I’ve been a fan of Leonard Cohen for an awfully long time. I knew Hal a little from a Harry Smith project he’d done in 1999, so I got Rough Trade to get in touch with him, and they told him that I’d like to do ‘Death Of A Ladies Man’. Luckily, he was into the idea.
“If people could dig it out, the very first Pulp record, It, is very influenced by Leonard Cohen. It was around the time that I left school, ’81 or ’82, that I first got into him.”
Given his current residence in France, it was particularly appropriate that Jarvis provided guest vocals on ‘One Hell Of A Party’, the standout track on Air’s most recent album, Pocket Symphony.
“It was an accident,” remembers Jarvis. “They were making an album with Charlotte Gainsbourg, and I happened to visit the studio where they were with a friend. He said to me, ‘Go and have a look in that studio; I can’t go in cos I’ve fallen out with the people in there.’ So I went and knocked on the door and Air happened to be working there. They were stuck for lyrics for a song so they asked me to write something.
“Originally, ‘One Hell Of A Party’ was supposed to go at the end of the Marie Antoinette film, but for whatever reason it didn’t get used. At that stage in the movie she’s going to get her head chopped off after this big party, so the song is really more about that, rather than what was going on in my head at the time.”
Generally speaking, Jarvis seems to be more comfortable with where he’s currently at in his career, as opposed to the pressures of fronting a big band like Pulp.
“Probably,” he muses. “I don’t feel traumatised at the moment. I feel comfortable with what I’m doing, and I’m very lucky; I can make records and enough people will buy them to allow me to make another one. That’s about as much as you can ask for, really.”

Jarvis plays Electric Picnic on Saturday September 1