The return of 90s icons Pulp has been an epic one, bringing in one of the largest crowds Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage saw in 2025.
Their first album since 2001, More, debuted at number one in the UK and earned the Britpop titans a place on the Mercury Prize shortlist.
But for Candida Doyle and Nick Banks, the band’s keyboardist and guitarist, respectively, they never anticipated people to care this much.
‘It’s amazed me,’ Candida, 62, told Metro at the Mercury Award Ceremony in Newcastle. ‘I really didn’t expect it at all.’
Nick doubled down on his shock after we voiced our surprise that the Common People hitmakers would be so humble about their return.
‘No, you just think you’ll put a record out and they’ll go “ugh, them again? uhh”,’ he laughed, pulling a face as he mimed throwing an album away.
Candida added: ‘We thought we’d say here’s a new song and everyone would go to the bar, that’s absolutely what I expected.’
The crowd certainly did not go to the bar during their new songs at Worthy Farm, with Candida calling it ‘crazy and overwhelming in an amazing way.’
‘We’ve played a lot of festivals all over the world but there really is nothing on earth like Glastonbury,’ Nick agreed. ‘Getting ready to go on? It’s a big deal. Exciting though.’
Pulp were heavily rumoured ahead of their epic secret set return under the name of Patchwork at this year’s festival.
The set marked 30 years since the band — fronted by Jarvis Cocker, who was on vocal rest ahead of their performance — had headlined that same stage.
That iconic Glastonbury moment came sandwiched between their 1994 Mercury Prize shortlist and their win with Different Class just two years later.
This year marked the fourth time Pulp has been shortlisted for the prestigious prize, mirroring fellow nominee Wolf Alice who have also been on the list four times with one win.
Unlike previous albums, More was made in just three weeks as the band didn’t want to spend ‘months and months toiling away trying to find something’.
Candida said the speed wasn’t the only difference between More and previous albums, highlighting its stripped-back ‘simplicity’.
It is also the band’s first album without founding member and bassist Steve Mackey, who died in 2023 aged 53.
More was dedicated to Mackey with Jarvis telling Lauren Laverne on 6 Music it was ‘weird at first’ but ‘two songs on the record which date from when Steve was around’ so made him feel like part of the project.
Ultimately, Pulp missed out on a second Mercury Prize win as the £25,000 sum went to Sam Fender for People Watching.
His win may prove more controversial than 1994’s choice of M People’s Elegant Slumming, which beat Paul Weller, Blur, The Prodigy, and (you guessed it) Pulp.
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