Hear Electric Now

Pet Shop Boys have uploaded their new album Electric in its entirety. Take a listen now - right here. Their twelfth album will be released July 15th.

Pet Shop Boys Reveal Another Song

Pet Shop Boys have uploaded a new album track to the Internet - this one's called Inside A Dream. It's from the new album Electric, and follows Axis and Vocal. Have a listen to it and read an interview here.

New Pet Shop Boys Single To Air Tonight

Pet Shop Boys' new single, Vocal, will be given its first play on Radio 2 tonight after 11pm (GMT). The song is taken from the new album Electric, and is the closing track on the album. It has been played live, and can be seen/heard below:

Pet Shop Boys Preview New Song

Pet Shop Boys have put a minute-long preview of their upcoming song Fluorescent up on YouTube. The song is taken from their twelfth album, Electric, due out July 15th.

Have a listen:

New Pet Shop Boys Songs

Here are four new Pet Shop Boys songs that were performed live recently off their upcoming twelfth album Electric, following the single - Axis.

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct
 The Last To Die
 Thursday
Vocal

Pet Shop Boys - Electric

Artwork

Tracklist
01. Axis
02. Bolshy
03. Love Is A Bourgeois Construct
04. Fluorescent
05. Inside A Dream
06. The Last To Die
07. Shouting In The Evening
08. Thursday
09. Vocal

The album will be released on 15th July.The first single is Axis, available on YouTube.

Example will feature on track 8, Thursday.

The album is the duo's twelfth, and follows Elysium, released only last September!

Pet Shop Boys Announce Surprise New Album

Pet Shop Boys have announced that they will be releasing a completely new album, Electric, in June this year. This is particularly surprising considering their last one, the fantastic Elysium, only came out September last year - a 9 month gap! Here's an album trailer:

Best Of 2012: #8

#8 - Pet Shop Boys - Elysium

It's very hard to believe that this is album number eleven. I know that they were making albums long before I was born, but what really surprises me is that I love all of them. There are high points and low points, but I wouldn't say I disliked any of them. Following on from their best album, Yes (unfortunately Elysium doesn't top it, but it gives it a run for its money), which was filled with ten classic pop songs and one odd curveball of a closer, this time the duo have gone for slower, peaceful and thoughtful songs filled with epic soundscapes and, of course, fantastic melodies. In fact, there are only a few songs that you might consider as being proper pop songs. These include the sort-of Olympics song Winner, the opening track Leaving, or the catchy Memory Of The Future. Conveniently, those are actually the three tracks that have been made into singles! But those ones are not just the backbone of the album. Invisible is simple, yet relaxing, which really fits with the album's artwork; Breathing Space takes a slight guitar-y turn, but produces a beautiful chorus; and the closing track Requiem In Denim And Leopardskin is a six-minute epic which finishes the album off in style. There are also little weird tracks, as you would expect from a Pet Shop Boys album, such as the two-minute long Your Early Stuff (apparently a compilation of taxi drivers' comments) or Ego Music, which is a slight attack on the current pop music industry, with sarcastic, deadpan lines such as 'in the sea of negativity, I'm the Statue of Liberty' and generally, just pure oddness. Overall, the album starts strong and just gets better. The final three tracks are probably the greatest way the duo have ever finished an album, going from pop song Memory Of The Future, to the dark and emotional Everything Means Something, and the pure epic Requiem In Denim And Leopardskin.

RECOMMEND: Winner, Breathing Space, Requiem In Denim And Leopardskin
LOW POINTS: Your Early Stuff, Hold On

Hear Elysium Now

Pet Shop Boys' new album, Elysium, is now available to stream in full from this link. The album is the duo's eleventh, and has been preceded by a teaser track, Invisible, and a single, Winner. It is due for release on 10th September.

30 Second Previews Of Elysium

You can click here to go to a YouTube video containing 30 second previews of all of Pet Shop Boys' new album, Elysium, which is due for release on 10th September. The album has already produced a teaser track (Invisible, track 2) and a single (Winner, track 3).

Pet Shop Boys - Elysium

Artwork

Tracklist
01. Leaving
02. Invisible
03. Winner
04. Your Early Stuff
05. A Face Like That
06. Breathing Space
07. Ego Music
08. Hold On
09. Give It A Go
10. Memory Of The Future
11. Everything Means Something
12. Requiem In Denim And Leopardskin

The album's release date has been pushed forward a week - it will be released on September 10th, perhaps to avoid competition with Muse and the Killers, who both release their albums on the 17th.

The album has spawned one single - "Winner" - and another album track, "Invisible". There are reports that another single will turn up soon, but nothing official confirms this.

This album marks the eleventh studio album from the duo.

Pet Shop Boys New Single

Pet Shop Boys have announced that the first single off their new album will be entitled "Winner" and will get its first play on Radio 2 between 9.30am and 12.00pm (BST) at some point. It will also go up for download that same day. The single is the first to be taken from the duo's upcoming eleventh album, entitled "Elysium", and due for release on September 17th, and follows a taster track, "Invisible", out on YouTube now.

Pet Shop Boys Announce Album

Pet Shop Boys have announced that they will be releasing a new album entitled "Elysium" in September. They have posted a track from the album (I don't think it's a single) called "Invisible" - showing off a very different side to them than the one they displayed on their last album, "Yes" (which, in my opinion, was their best album). This album will be their eleventh, and is set for a September 17th release - although this has yet to be confirmed by the duo. More details to follow, but you can have a listen to "Invisible" here.

New Pet Shop Boys Single

The new Pet Shop Boys single, Together, will be released officially on 29th November. However, it will be included on their upcoming compilation, Ultimate, released 1st November.

Lots Of Lovely New Albums...

Some various news for some upcoming albums:

White Lies (second album due out 17th January): The album is now set to have 10 tracks, not 11 as previously reported. There are now nine song titles; five of which we've heard from live versions (Bigger Than Us, Holy Ghost, Strangers, Street Lights and Is Love) and four unheard as of yet (Peace And Quiet, Turn The Bells, The Power And The Glory and Come Down). Peace And Quiet has been described as a massive departure from the normal White Lies sound, and The Power And The Glory as an 80s-influenced electro epic song.

Snow Patrol (sixth album expected mid-2011): The new album is set to have a massive electronic influence, according to various sources.

Elbow (fifth album expected mid-2011): Their new record has been described as bigger in some aspects and yet subtler in others. Frontman Guy Garvey believes it will not have the same commercial impact as their previous album, The Seldom Seen Kid.

Hadouken! (potential third album due out next year): A new song has been confirmed to get its first airing sometime in October/November. Rumours about a third album have not yet been confirmed or denied, but on the band's MySpace page, you can see "The next chapter coming soon," so it may be true after all!

Ladytron (fifth album expected sometime next year): Aside from a compilation featuring two new songs to be released late 2010, Ladytron have been working on their fifth album; however not much is known about it.

Hard-Fi (third album expected early 2011): Not much known about this, apart from five song titles: Sweat, Killer Sounds, Bring It On, Give It Up and Feels Good. Their Rockin' The City podcasts have samples of Sweat (here) and Feels Good (here). Also, here's a sample of Bring It On.

Pet Shop Boys: No new album, but a compilation "Ultimate" is set to be released November 2010. It will include a new song, "Together".

The View (third album expected early 2011): Not much news about this other than it has been recorded. Two songs are known: Underneath The Lights and Tragic Magic.

And last but certainly not least:
The Pigeon Detectives (third album expected early 2011): The new album has been recorded, but absolutely no other information as far as I can see.

Best Of 2009 - #3

Pet Shop Boys - Yes
10/10

Original review here.

Album Review: Pet Shop Boys - Yes

Album: Yes
Artist: Pet Shop Boys
Singles: Love Etc, All Over The World

Back for a tenth album. Who'd have thought it?
This album is absolutely wonderful. After the slow decline down to Release (2002), Fundamental was good, but this just goes beyond expectations, back to the wonders of Behaviour and Very, mixing sounds of both, while employing a much more modern sound. Yet they never seem to change their sound, which makes this duo so special.

Love Etc
The first single. It's a great song, extremely bouncy and catchy, with the chants "Don't have to be..." making this sound epic. Moreover, there are plenty of songs that are better than this on the album, although this one seemed suited to the job of first single.

All Over The World
Tchaikovsky meets Pet Shop Boys? I'd never have thought it possible. But they did it, fantastically. Well-deserved second single. Very catchy, great beat.

Beautiful People
Wow. Two great songs, but now we go down a bit in quality. But I emphasise a bit. This album is wonderful, not a bad song on it. But for all this song's great sound, you can't help but feel Neil Tennant was maybe scraping the bottom of the barrel for the chorus lyrics. But that doesn't matter one little bit. Great song.

Did You See Me Coming?
This sounds like a "Very" song with its very own "Yes" makeover. It is great as well, with a memorable chorus and greatness all around. It even has guitar!

Vulnerable
Quite repetitive, it doesn't change much. But it makes five minutes fly by. It is truly amazing how the duo can still surprise me after ten albums. Although to be fair, I only got into them after Nightlife, and to be fair, that and Release were the worst of their albums. Not bad at all, just not their finest hour.

More Than A Dream
A retro-sounding song that sounds like Pet Shop Boys working at their best. The natural high-pitch of Tennant's voice played against his deeper voice ("Live it" and "It's the story of our lives..." played at the same time) is good, and the hands-in-the-air chorus (described as this in a different review, and I thought it described perfectly what I thought)

Building A Wall
Wow. Odd. But excellent. Now we're getting into the greatest part of this album. So, odd parts include Chris and Neil alternating: Protection! Prevention! Detection! Detention! at two parts in the song, and also the weird spoken part where Neil goes on about sand in sandwiches... wait, what? Yes, I did just say that. But who cares? It's wonderful.

King Of Rome
The first truly beautiful song on this album. Five and a half minutes of slow, downbeat, brilliant music. And when the lines "Baby, call me..." just gets to you. It's wonderful.

Pandemonium
In which the greatness goes into overdrive. The best song on the album. A heavy, quick beat, with an opening that sounds a bit like the Doctor Who theme tune, with trumpets, and then dives straight into the epicness of this song. I'm going to use the phrase "hands-in-the-air-chorus" again. It really makes you want to sing along. Or clap along. Or both.

The Way It Used To Be
The second best song on the album. A five minute epic, which just narrates a love long lost, and doesn't pause for a chorus or anything. It gives you goosebumps (good ones), particularly if you're into your music. Neil's vocals soar over this beautiful melody.

Legacy
Ah. Well... I like this song, and understand why it was a last track, but after the greatness of Building A Wall through to The Way It Used To Be, it just doesn't seem to work. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but its placement isn't great, it drags on for a bit, and has a weird fairground sound towards the end where Neil sings in French. Interesting. Good song, but my least favourite.

So, generally, fantastic. Starts off great, goes down into the good tracks and builds up into four songs of sheer brilliance - true Pet Shop Boys - and then, well... I've ranted about Legacy - which I think I like enough to give the album an overall score of:

For the record, their previous albums (this could take a while!): Please (6/10), Actually (9/10), Introspective (5/10), Behaviour (9/10), Very (9/10), Bilingual (8/10), Nightlife (7/10), Release (7/10), Fundamental (10/10) - and if Battleship Potemkin counted: (2/10)

Wordplay

Random wordplay thing I found. Quite clever.

If you take all ten Pet Shop Boys albums (not including the "Disco" series, greatest hits, Battleship Potemkin, etc) you can make this:

Fundamental bilingual release: very introspective nightlife behaviour, actually. Yes please!

For those that are interested:
Please - 1986
Actually - 1987
Introspective - 1988
Behaviour - 1990
Very - 1993
Bilingual - 1996
Nightlife - 1999
Release - 2002
Fundamental - 2006
Yes - 2009

Yes, lyrics.

I have heard 30-second previews of each song, and here are the lyrics I heard for each of the 11 tracks. If you're interested.

Love Etc
You can probably hear it yourself here.

All Over The World
I hear it all around me everyday
In the music that you play
This is a song
About boys and girls
You hear it
Playing all over the world

Beautiful People
Give like beautiful people
With my beautiful people around
I wanna live like beautiful people
Give like beautiful people
With my beautiful people around

Did You See Me Coming?
Don't have to be a high flyer to catch your slot
The night we met was cold and wet
I needed a drink or two
I saw you standing there, and I knew
I'd like to be loved by you
Did you see me coming?
Was I that obvious?

Vulnerable
... hurt you
I know the assumption is
That I'm tough with who I am
Well, that's enough
Even with friends I have to compete
And try being mean
When we walk down the street
It's not easy, by the by
Just surviving...

More Than A Dream
...could be better news
We can share
Something's coming soon
I hear it everywhere
(Live it) It's the story of our lives
(Don't give it) It's the way we've always been
(Live it) Though the mountains may divide

Building A Wall
More to keep me in
I'm building a wall, a fine wall
Not so much to keep you out
More to keep me in
Back there, on a bomb site
We were spies among the ruins
Such precocious barbarians...

King Of Rome
Inside out, I can tell the tale
Across the sky, the change of time
Last night I...

Pandemonium
I love you really
Though I know no one believes me
There's chaos everytime we meet
Oh no, what have you gone and done?
You're creating pandemonium
That song you sing means everything to me
I'm living in ecstasy
The stars and the sun, dance to your drum
And now - it's pandemonium.

The Way It Used To Be
What is left of love?
Tell me, who will even care?
So much time has passed
I still meet you anywhere
Water under bridge, evening after day
What is left of love?...

Legacy
.. high speed trains take us away
North or south, and back the same day
And you, you get over it, you do, you get over it...

Single Review: Pet Shop Boys: Love, etc.

Name: Love, etc.
Artist: Pet Shop Boys
Album: Yes

OK, so it's a bit early to be reviewing a single that isn't due out until the 16th of next month, but I heard it on the radio, so thought I might as well.

This song proves that the Pet Shop Boys, at the moment, still have a great capability for making great music. Their Brit Award (due to be presented on Wednesday of next week) is well deserved. A truly catchy song, with a chorus rabble singing "Don't have to [choose word from the following: be, drive, buy, have]" about eight times, with Neil Tennant of course finishing the sentence. The beat is catchy, it sounds like proper Pet Shop Boys, it's great.

Can't wait to see what the album sounds like.

SCORE: 9/10