When Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe subtly dropped their forthcoming sell-out Royal Opera House shows on social media, the Internet literally broke. The Pet Shop Boys have had an incredible impact on the house music scene, the intoxicating ‘Always On My Mind’ which drew on influences from ‘The Doors’ and ‘The Smiths – You Can Dance’; had an impact on the U.K. house music scene like no other. The Boys continued to deliver track after track that has left them with a title of ‘Royalty’ among music aficionados.
This summer, sandwiched between IL Trovatore and Don Quixote, the boys will perform a 4-night-extravaganza residency which sold out within hours. The ‘Inner Sanctum’ shows will showcase material from the 13th studio album from the quintessentially synth-pop-electro duo. WeWereLucky to secure tickets for the Saturday gig and cannot wait to see what the show holds.
With Es Devlin (OBE) responsible for the set design WeCan’tWait to see what is delivered, will we see her Louis Vuitton style influences on the staging? Or will the choreographically influences of world-renowned Lynne Page steal the limelight of the performance? Previous ‘PSB’ shows have exhibited minimal movement by the Boys, and a reliance on audio-visionary technical masterpieces. The combination of flamboyance within styling, music and execution are what cement these upcoming ‘exhibitions’ as the future of folklore. “Did you see the Shop’s ROH show?” will no doubt be an uttered by the crème-de-la-crème of music’s elite for years to come. WeCan’tWait.
On to the album itself. The first listen, was a reaction to its predecessor, Electric. The duo had endeavoured to connect with current trends and did so, so beautifully, ‘Bolshy’ and ‘Love Is A Bourgeois Construct’, being the stand out tracks from the album. With support from Claptone, the musical journey the preceding album took certainly laid the foundations for ‘Super’. The progression between both albums is simply poetic and downright fucking naughty!
We begin with ‘Happiness’. THIS MAY BE MY FAVOURITE TRACK OF THE YEAR. Not since I was a mildly confused 8 year old and heard ‘It’s A Sin’, did I ever have that feeling of SHUT THE FUCK UP! The track is pure brilliance. WeLoveIt. It reminds you of that not-so clean back room bar, you know, the one behind Kwik-Save, where you can see Tilly and have a good old-fashioned knees-up, whilst all the time, having a deep sense of the upcoming doom of the Monday journey to wherever. Does this even make sense to you? If it does, you know. If not? Piss off. It was a thing. The track is pure sublime electro-pop beauty married with a tech-house riff to snare all. Unbelievable.
Other standout tracks from the album include ‘Groovy’, ‘Inner Sanctum’ and ‘Burn’. The tour-titled ‘Inner Sanctum’ shares similarities with Armin Van Buuren’s trance masterpiece: ‘Communication’. Being an absolute monster of a track that defined a generation of cyber-kids, it’s testament to the boys to produce a track as symbolic and genre defining.
30 years on, since Please, it’s clear to see why the boys have the longevity they deserve. Honouring the club-kids and disco whores that have defined dance music throughout the last 3 decades has meant that they retain a dedicated congregation of fags and hags, ready to Go West and see how the debonair lived in Suburbia.
WeTakeOur hats off to the boys on this latest album, we feel that it’s a step up from the last offering and the right way forward for the Boys! We can not wait for the summer shows. Long Live Les PSB xxx
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