British musician Jarvis Cocker has discussed his latest project, ‘Biophobia’, calling it “my attempt to get to grips with nature”. He unveiled the 30-minute multimedia presentation at the Green Events and Innovations conference in London this week. Cocker mentioned performing the show in Manchester earlier in 2024 and last year he worked on it while touring with Pulp. The presentation features photographs, poetry and a live performance of an unreleased song, ‘A Sunset’, co-written by musician Richard Hawley, who Cocker said he would like to officially release in the future.
The singer-songwriter said the inspiration for ‘Biophobia’ came after being approached by iconic artist and producer Brian Eno about collaborating with his Earth/Percent project, an organisation set up to help the music community support organisations addressing climate change. Cocker said he “panicked” and immediately thought of doing a PowerPoint presentation on the topic. During the talk, Cocker explores his personal journey to cure his early fear of nature, through to acknowledging the climate emergency and how to live in harmony with the natural world. He also talked about how nature has influenced his songwriting, including the inspiration behind Pulp’s eighth studio album, ‘We Love Life’, which was inspired by a blackbird that built a nest below Cocker’s windowsill.
Cocker has also alluded to the prospect of more ‘Biophobia’ performances in the future, but has denied he will take up public speaking as a profession and trot it out as part of Pulp’s shows. The band has already confirmed they will play more shows in 2024, with a focus on making touring a greener concern. As part of a tide of musicians involved in climate action, Cocker is one of an increasing number who have pledged their support to the No Music on a Dead Planet campaign led by Music Declares Emergency (MDE). Hundreds of artists have already committed to pledging their support to revitalising how the music industry tackles climate disaster
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