The year 2009 has had magical powers in triggering a huge number of artists I enjoy, or have so much as thought about listening to, to put out new releases. Upon landing on the main page of AMG last night, to my surprise, here I see the new album from former Pulp front-man Jarvis Cocker, Further Complications, just released! To think that this one might have slipped past me is alarming, but now I have heard it in full and find it to be a prime candidate for one of this year’s best.

My personal weakness for pale, thin-legged guys and Britpop aside, Pulp’s significance in British culture is certainly regarded as monumental, beginning with their first triumph (after a handful of 80’s releases and relative obscurity as “Arabicus Pulp”) His n’ Hers in 1994. Follow-up Different Class in 1995 achieved legendary status, with vivid pictures of contemporary British society and relationships (often of the lusty variety) as lyrical themes and a curious blend of glam, dance music, and catch-all ‘indie rock’. This is Hardcore (1998) and the band’s final release We Love Life (2001) were generally well-received by critics and fans. Pulp has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2002.

Jarvis Cocker’s first solo album, simply titled Jarvis, was released in 2006, with additional work on guest vocals on Air’s Pocket Symphony in 2007 and debuting new track “Angela” in 2008 on BBC2, not officially released as a single until April 2009. That brings us to May ‘09, and the release of Further Complications.

Produced by Steve Albini, formerly of Big Black and audio engineer extraordinaire, whom Cocker met at last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, the difference between Jarvis and Further Complications is immediately apparent from the title track: with his previous effort precariously leaning towards adult contemporary lite pop (well, apart from “Fat Children”), there is no mistaking this new album finds the man doing his wittiest material since Pulp days, and perhaps his most gritty, ‘rockingest’ ever, too. “Angela” has a bit of an Elvis Costello rhythm-and-chug about it, though, of course, with that Jarvis Cocker trademark pruriency. “Pilchard” is an instrumentally-centered, swift-moving interlude before “Leftovers”, a slightly goofy, but still tongue-in-cheek, track with lines like “”I met her in the museum of paleontology, and I make no bones about it”

“I Never Said I Was Deep”, a confession of shallowness amidst a jazzy piano and brass ensemble, wouldn’t have been out of place on his previous solo album. “Homewrecker!”, “****ingsong”, “Caucasian Blues” return to the crunchier, punchier themes introduced earlier on, while “Hold Still”slides in between to interrupt the flow as yet another slow number, though a little more sentimental than expected. “Slush” is an eloquent outro which would have been quite at home as a 1990’s Britpop anthem (against songs like Blur’s “The Universal”; “Slush” holds its own). As brilliant as a closer as the previous track would have been, Further Complications ends with “You’re in My Eyes (Discosong)”, an 8:45 meandering through disco themes and recalling Pulp’s heyday.

Though uneven, and decidedly rough around the edges, Further Complications is one of those albums that brings me to think that yes, it is still possible for there to be enjoyable music out there, even fun to listen to, that doesn’t find itself clutching onto tired fragments of the past. In a sea of sameness and the hopelessly derivative, Jarvis Cocker stands in a class of his own.

Stream Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications via the Guardian and we7!

Jarvis Cocker - Official Site | on MySpace Music