''Further Complications'', styled ''"Further complications."'', is the second solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by British musician

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following ...

, released in the UK on 18 May 2009.

Background and production

In July 2008, Cocker met

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

in Chicago at the

Pitchfork Music Festival The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The ...

. Together they tested some songs, liked the sound and agreed to record an album together. Chicago performer

Daniel Knox Daniel Knox (born September 22, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Knox rose to prominence through his collaborations with David Lynch, Jarvis Cocker, the Handsome Family, Rufus Wainwright and Nin ...

sings backing vocals on "Angela" and "Hold Still". The album has a heavier sound than debut ''Jarvis'', something that Cocker attributes to realising his band "could rock", which led to him choosing to write with them. He told

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available on ...

: "What I've tried to do with the new stuff, rather than me just sit there and wait for inspiration to come at some point – which takes ages – instead we've written stuff together. And it's a bit louder."

Promotion

On the day of the album's release, Cocker spent two hours working in

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

in London, selling and signing copies over the counter and giving customers his own personal advice and recommendations on their purchases.

Critical reception

The album attracted a positive response from critics, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

saying "the songs here pulsate with perversion, a middle-aged man making ''damn'' sure he's going to get with a tight 23-year-old body yet again," and declared it "impossible not to happily wallow in the flood of filth unleashed by ''Further Complications''", whilst ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' praised the album's "heavy-but-breathable fuzz-guitars and a granite-hard rock aesthetic, but with bluster bolted outside the studio door" and called the result "an absolute pleasure." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' highlighted other attributes, saying that "''Further Complications'' is best when the music quietens, allowing the singer's glorious one-liners to be savoured", and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' picked out ''Homewrecker!'' and ''"Further Complications"'' claiming that they "will come as a definite surprise to longtime Cocker watchers, though not necessarily a bad one", whilst deciding that Cocker's "droll wordplay" is "still the dominating factor" on such tracks as "I Never Said I Was Deep" and "Fuckingsong".

Track listing

The added quotation marks around ''"Further Complications."'' are purposefully there, as featured on the album's sleeve.

Personnel

– vocals, guitar (tracks 3, 10), synthesiser (tracks 6, 8, 11), fire bell (track 4), bass guitar (track 6),

electric mandolin The electric mandolin is an instrument tuned and played as the mandolin and amplified in similar fashion to an electric guitar. As with electric guitars, electric mandolins take many forms. Most common is a carved-top eight-string instrument fit ...

(track 9) *

Steve Mackey Stephen Patrick Mackey (born 10 November 1966) is an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he has produced songs and albums by ...

– bass guitar *

Ross Orton Ross Orton is a musician/ songwriter/producer based in Sheffield, England. Orton is known for his work as drummer in Add N to (X) and as part of electro trio Fat Truckers, and since that band's split in 2004 has formed the Cavemen songwriting/pr ...

– drums,

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

* Simon Stafford – keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, synthesiser *Tim McCall – guitar *

Martin Craft Martin Craft is an Australian songwriter, producer, and composer. Usually recording under the name M.Craft, he has released several albums on various labels, most recently signing with London's Heavenly Recordings. He is also known as a songwrit ...

– guitar,

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It sup ...

, piano *

Steve Mackay Steve Mackay (September 25, 1949 – October 10, 2015) was an American tenor saxophonist best known for his membership in the Stooges. His performances are showcased on three songs on the band's second album, '' Fun House'' (1970). The Stooge ...

– saxophone (track 6)

Chart positions

In 2009. It was awarded a silver certification from the

Independent Music Companies Association The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda ...

which indicated sales of at least 30,000 copies throughout Europe.

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Jarvis Cocker albums Albums produced by Steve Albini Rough Trade Records albums