ReviewsPet Shop Boys / Nonetheless review
SDE’s track-by-track assessment
SDE takes you through the new album, track-by-track
Pet Shop Boys 15th studio album saw Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe work with a new producer, James Ford. Their trilogy of long-players with producer Stuart Price ended on a high, with 2020’s Hotspot, a record this site described as “rather enjoyable”.
Like Hotspot, Nonetheless doesn’t outstay its welcome and offers 10 tracks all in the ballpark of 3-5 mins in length. Ford’s contribution is significant; as well as producing he contributes “additional programming, keyboards, guitars, percussion and drums”.
Opener ‘Loneliness‘ rewards repeated listens. Initially, I wasn’t too sure, but like many of the best Pet Shop Boys songs it combines melancholy and minor chords with beats and ultimately a caring optimism (“everyone needs time to think / no one can live without love”). It’s very catchy and the extended outro on the album version is lovely. A great start.
‘Feel‘ has skippy, vaguely house-y piano style beat before the strings and keyboard lines come in. Neil’s harmony vocals at the beginning sound precise and rather lush. The verses have a quick vocal pace before the chorus slows down with the draggy “you make me f-e-e-l like – nobody else can”. ‘Feel’ is a bright and breezy number. Initially, it ‘feels’ rather lightweight, and there’s certainly an almost childlike simplicity to the lyrics, but like much of Nonetheless its charms unfurl slowly. The beats sound good at the end, but it’s still surprising that this song is so high up the running order of the album.
‘Why Am I Dancing?’ has a literal fanfare at the beginning at the beats fade up. Given that Neil has reluctantly acknowledged that Nonetheless is what you might call Pet Shop Boys ‘lockdown’ album (he learnt how to program on Garageband), it’s not surprising that as with ‘Loneliness’, the lyrics address isolation (“Why am i dancing – when I’m so alone?). Again, there’s that seductive melancholy that pervades this song and it has a wonderful melody with a great tone to Neil’s vocal delivery. Like all the songs on this album, there are strings in the arrangement but the beats still come through strongly and have a vaguely retro feel to them.
‘New London Boy‘ is one of the best songs on the album. It has a beautiful laid back intro with sprightly arpeggiated keyboards coming in. ‘Bouncy’ is the adjective I’d used to describe the beginning of this song. Right at the beginning, Neil speaks the words “I remembering wondering… ” suggesting this might be spoken word all the way through but no, he completes the thought by singing in falsetto “Who am I? – and what will I turn out to be?”. The lyric is one of nostalgia as Neil looks back to being “a new London boy – like so many others – hanging around – with my glam rock brothers”. ‘New London Boy’ is elevated by Neil indulging in a wonderful ‘West End Girls’ style rap (“follow the style – plastic and showy – Everyone’s dancing to Roxy and Bowie”, he ‘sings’). Inevitably this lends this song a PSB authenticity; a feeling of being ‘classic’ Pet Shop Boys. It wouldn’t be out of place as a track on their second album, Actually.
‘Dancing Star’ was a good choice for the second single. It celebrates the life and spirit of Rudolf Nureyev, the Soviet-born ballet dancer who defected to the West in 1961 (“Jumped the barrier at Orly airport – claimed political asylum there”). There’s a simplicity to the arrangement which again harks back to early Pet Shop Boys and the documentary aspect to the lyrics echoes Chris and Neil’s composition ‘Nothing Has Been Proved’ which was, of course, sung by Dusty Springfield. The orchestral stabs, the synth bass and in particular the middle eight section with the handclaps are all vintage Pet Shop Boys.
‘A New Bohemia‘ is a ballad which starts ‘Side B’ of the album, if you have the vinyl version. Neil has confirmed that this will be the third single. The song has a traditional pop/rock structure with the first verse as Neil sings to a simple piano accompaniment before drums and strings fill out the sound for the chorus, which is very strong in terms of melody (“Where have they gone, les Petites Bons-Bons?”). You can read more about Les Petites Bons-Bons here. A New Bohemia flows effortlessly and exhibits a pleasing, evocative yearning for a lost era.
‘The Schlager Hit Parade‘ starts with acoustic guitars, for a slightly different vibe. The whole song is a commentary on Schlager music, a style of European music generally defined by catchy instrumental accompaniments to vocal-driven pop with simple and often sentimental lyrics; which is why Neil sings “It’s always Christmas or the sound of summer – in the Schlager Hit Parade” at the end of each chorus, where the song leans most towards ‘Go West’ (cheesy?) style Pet Shop Boys. There’s perhaps a hint of politics in the break (“The future is forever – let’s not dwell on the past”) but generally speaking this a straightforward song that adopts the Schalger style to make a point. It’s not necessarily cool, but it is catchy.
‘The Secret of Happiness‘ is a floaty, dreamy number driven by a bossa nova beat and beautiful sunny imagery, from Neil. The verse melody, when expressed by the horns, flirts with easy-listening, but the chorus is lovely; sophisticated, balanced, melodic and boasts a very cinematic string/horns arrangement. Tennant proves himself one of pop’s deftest lyricists with some lovely turns of phrase, particularly the break towards the end where he sings about how the secret of happiness “was always concealed from me”.
After the soft underbelly of the last few tracks it’s good to be back in clubland with ‘Bullet For Narcissus’ and its stripped back beats and quick punctuated guitar figures. After a few bars of intro, there’s a wonderfully catchy guitar lead line to usher us into the first verse. Neil takes pot shots at the titular Narcissus who we could read as any number of people in 2024 (“His politics are simply mean – he doesn’t trust what he hasn’t seen”). The strings are present, as with all the songs on the album, but you wonder if there was a case for doing this track without and them and giving this song a slightly harder edge. Still, it’s great and elements of that guitar line and the arrangement took me back to ‘Behaviour’.
Nonetheless ends with the very atmospheric and rather brilliant ‘Love is the Law’. As with ‘Bullet For Narcissus’, the textures, sounds and arrangement are Behaviour-esque to these ears. This denouement is night and day when compared to the rather trite ‘Wedding in Berlin’ at the end of Hotspot. Another brilliant lyric, Neil sings “Love is the law but you can’t regulate it – The desire is so strong and you won’t moderate it”. It’s a very strong end to the record.
Summary
Nonetheless really does deliver the goods. There are no duffers on the album and a pleasing variety of styles and sounds which often deploy elements that remind you of Pet Shop Boys at their best. Inevitably, the album’s highs don’t match the peaks of imperial phase PSB, but was anyone expecting that, 40 years after the Bobby Orlando version of ‘West End Girls’? James Ford appears to be a sympathetic and inspiring collaborator and the (real) strings are used with a reasonably light touch – don’t go away thinking this is an ‘orchestral’ album – it’s not. Impressive.
Bonus content: Furthermore review
For deluxe CD and vinyl editions of Nonetheless, Pet Shop Boys have included four new recordings of old songs: ‘Heart’, ‘Being Boring’, ‘Always On My Mind’ and ‘It’s a Sin’ (three UK number ones). These were recorded in 2021 and are all produced by Pet Shop Boys.
‘Heart’ has a leaner, clubbier vibe and the post chorus melody of ‘ahhs’ is not the same as the original but ultimately it’s not that different and it’s hard not to wonder, what’s the point? It’s noticeable that two out of the four tracks were originally produced by Julian Mendelsohn; was there some aspect to the original productions that the PSBs were never 100 percent happy with? ‘Being Boring’ was produced by Harold Faltermeyer and most fans would consider song and production near-perfect. The re-recording doesn’t improve on the original (obviously) with Tennant’s vocal delivery not matching the original. This new version a bit clubbier with touches of house piano. The most interesting part is in the middle where Neil speaks over the music and explains how his friend in Newcastle inspired the song. Despite fairly aggressive sequenced beats at the beginning, ‘Always On My Mind’ is the least successful of the songs on Furthermore. The horn sound is, frankly, awful and the arrangement is virtually identical, just not as good. “Siri, give me an inferior version of Always On My Mind”. Pointless. The new version of ‘It’s A Sin‘ rather borrows from the original disco mix arrangement (a good thing) and the vocal sounds very similar. But again, it’s not different enough to justify its existence. Having listened to all these tracks a few times, I can’t see why I’d ever want to listen to them again. A better title for this bonus EP would have been Superfluous.
Nonetheless is out now, via Parlophone. The limited blu-ray with the exclusive slipcase and the 2CD edition are available via the SDE shop using this link or the buttons below. The slipcased edition is limited to 3,000 units (we’ve almost sold out).
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I seem to be in the minority that quite liked the reworked tracks on disk 2. Are they better than the originals? No, but they are different, just like every remix and live version ever, you enjoy multiple versions and there will always be one version you like the best.
What I *would* have liked though were some actual notes in the CD booklet as it’s a bit short on that front. It would have been nice to read why they chose to re-record these 4 tracks specifically given their extensive catalogue. Whether it was “these are my favourites “, “I was never happy with the originals”, “I thought it would be fun” or even “I picked them at random”, would just like to have known…!
(Chris Rea re-recorded everything for “New Light Through Old Windows” and I thought that album worked really well.)
Great review, I can never understand why they always choose “slow burners” as singles from recent albums….
Why am I dancing is a standout single!
A good album but with a dynamic range of 5 Why!? Such a shame.
Ouch. Thanks for pointing that out. 7 is when I start getting a headache from listening… 5? Out of the question, will not buy.
After my initial listen to the Blu-ray, which I enjoyed and then ripping the CD to my MP3 player for a 2nd listen, I didn’t bother listening to the album for a week, which is unusual for a new PSB album. Then I realised what the problem was, the flow of the album was all wrong, so I moved around 8 tracks.
It didn’t take much effort, the first and last tracks remained the same. I then I took the next track from each side to build up, what sounds to me, a better flow to the album and almost a running narrative. The only track I still have an issue with is “Why am I dancing?”. Neil’s vocals are too in your face and could have been mixed better. It’s almost a similar problem to “A red letter day”. As for the mixing overall, I’m expecting a Chris Lowe hookline to come bursting out at any second on some of the tracks but they are mixed down really low, as if they wanted to move away from sounding too synth.
So here is my running order for the album.
Loneliness
A new Bohemia
Feel
The Schlager hit parade
Why am I dancing?
The secret of happiness
New London boy
Bullet for narcissus
Dancing star
Love is the law
It’s a great album from an act that still churn out great music and interesting lyrics for 40 years.
As for the reworking of the 4 hits, only Being Boring is worth a listen as it seems to give the song a more uplifting feel to it. I have heard better re-worked versions of the other three tracks without losing its essence, which it has done here.
Great review, well done, totally agree with being boring remix, the other 3 “remixes” …
I don’t feel like taking all my clothes off and dancing to the rites of spring!
I’m not a huge PSB fan, I dip in every now and then. After seeing the artwork and reviews for this album, I listened to the whole album. I can honestly say, I absolutely loved it. Thank Superdeluxe.
Ok, here are my thoughts on the new Pet Shop Boys alum “Nonetheless” and bonus CD “Furthermore”.
For me, I’ve decided the big hit off this album is the track “Why Am I Dancing?” It’s classic Pet Shop Boys and definitely single material to my ears.
Pet Shop Boys / Nonetheless
Opener ‘Loneliness‘ was a disappointing choice for a first single for me. It’s ok. I see it more as an opening track. I like it. I don’t love it. It’s not single material, imo.
Quick note: I absolutely LOVE the four re-makes/remixes on the bonus Disc and I will explain why later. I feel they are all important.
To continue. Second track ‘Feel’ is great. I prefer it much better to ‘Loneliness’. This song was written for Brandon Flowers solo project [The Killers] but he turned it down. I love the intro with the fun electronic beats. Retro and Kraftwerk-like. It’s a strong song. Not sure it’s single material though.
‘Why Am I Dancing?’ is my favorite song on this album. It’s the big hit for me. [Right next to “Dancing Star”] I wouldn’t mind “Why Am I Dancing? Being released as a single. I love the opening. The riff. It’s classic already imo.
I agree ‘New London Boy‘ is one of the best songs on the album.
‘Dancing Star’ was a good choice for the second single. I agree. But I actually prefer the “Solemn Remix” [the shorter length remix] because it’s more exciting, faster pace and better than the album version. Imo. [I’m not sure I spelled that word correct: Solemn]
The second half of the album slows down and I think the standout for me is the last track closing number “Love Is The Law”. Excellent. But I am still listening to this album.
Regarding bonus Disc “Furthermore” here are my thoughts. This is actually why I wrote the review because I just want to say that I think these remixes are needed.
1. Although I can listen to the single version of “Always on my mind” I kind of feel original is a little bit too reverby and echo-y, the vocals, and a little bit loud and obnoxious, so much crammed in, the original is good, however I always kind of preferred the more simplified remixes or even the ‘Introspective’ album remix. I like how simplified the music arrangement is on this “Always on my mind” remake and it really allows the vocals to shine through so it’s now my favorite version to play.
2. The remixed and remade version of “Heart” on the bonus Disc is Excellent. Once again it’s simplified and they remove all the clingy-clangy noise on the original, Which I always felt was obnoxious, [I always preferred the Disco Remix Single Edit of “Heart” over the album version] they removed all that clutter and forgettable sounds from the original and really make it into an excellent Club banger of a remix. Thumping along. It’s short enough in length to make it listener-ftiendly. I absolutely love this mix it just flows perfectly the instrument arrangement of perfect for this song, this is the version I’ll always play now because I never listen to the original it’s just not a favorite song of mine but now I’m really loving this version.
3. ‘Its A Sin’ is improved on in my opinion because I never really cared much for the original, even though I can enjoy it, I find that the disco remix is more exciting, but it’s just a song I find too serious, and I do love the message in this song, but it’s one I tend to skip over. I understand it was a big hit and it is a classic, but this new version is more simplified and I love the opening intro, they improved on this song, but they get right into the remix and it’s clearly an edit of the original extended remix, but updated and more modernized. This is also now my favorite version of this song, along with the others, and I just LOVE that they went back to the 1987 album “Actually” and redid a couple of the tracks, because the truth is those were not that great arrangements, too reverby, dramatic of over-stuffed with production, not their best singles, imo, and they needed to be fixed then simplified. I can see why they didn’t redo the singles “Rent” and “What have I done to deserve this?” from that era, because those are perfect as they are.
4. My thoughts on the new remix of “Being Boring” is that it’s also clearly a remake and I love that it gets right to the point it sounds like a summertime kind of a fun remix, opening with what sounds like people in a pool splashing around and having a party, which actually reminds me of the video to “Being boring”, and I actually realize that they didn’t really have any kind of a really good remix of being boring they did have a long version but this is perfect and actually I love this middle part where he starts speaking and talking about the meaning of the song and his memories of the past. And although I will say I prefer the original single version of being boring and even the album version this is a great upbeat remix and I love the length of these remixes because they’re not too long. Some even the lengthy of a single. Sorry for any spelling errors here but anyways my thinking is I just love the simplified versions here and it allows the vocals to breathe and I just find these versions better than the originals and I don’t say that often with remixes. But those singles from the album “Actually” really needed to redone”.
I’m really enjoying this album – they’ve done it again. It’s amazing how they still come up with fresh-sounding music and superb and interesting lyrics 40 years after they started. They’ve always been relevant.
James Ford is a great producer. I loved his work on the Jessie Ware album “What’s Your Pleasure”.
I don’t think it’s that good. It’s better than the last album, but not as good as the Agenda EP. I’m definitely not keen on ‘Dancing star’, ‘The schlager hit parade’, or ‘Love is the law’. And of the four re-recorded songs, only ‘Heart’ is worth listening to more than once—and ‘Being boring’ is ruined by the new arrangement and spoken word bit.
There are moments, though. ‘Loneliness’ and ‘Feel’ are classic Pet Shop Boys, and ‘New London boy’ has that musical allusion to ‘The Message’. It’s just not consistently good all the way through.
I’ve made a playlist from the album and b-sides (so far) that I think works much better than the album proper:
Elysium is still the last great Pet Shop Boys album.
Like always a very well written and insightful review, but in my opinion the rating is too generous. It’s lands in the lower third of their discography and I would have awarded it a maximum of 3 stars. It has some strong tracks in “Love is the Law”, “A new bohemia” and “Loneliness” but the rest is pleasant but rather forgettable. They don’t seem to have put much effort in creating catchy choruses. “The Schlager Hit Parade” is one the most annoying songs they ever recorded, especially to German ears (“Sauerkraut”??). And the production is rather undistinguished and not as grandiose as it should be.
Will soon evaporate from the memory like the last few albums. Their last strong record was “Yes” in my opinion.
I agree: Schlanger Hit Parade is probably the worst PSB ever recorded! I skip that each listen on the CD.
Another great album from the masters of pop.
I’m quite loving this album and it’s interesting that they had announced some years ago that all future work would be on x2, but now we also know from the new documentary that the plan since Electric was always to do 3 albums with Stuart and now they’ve done those and are back on Parlophone and it sounds like they are back there with the non-obtrusive and perfectly mixed strings. I think the next one I need to go back to listen to is Elysium.
Been a fan since ‘Love Comes Quickly’ and think the album is a fine addition to the Boys’ magnificent cannon of work.
Made me revisit their past and all those fab singles and albums [and stunning ‘b’ sides…
Great review! Loving the whole album – definitely some strong classic PSB elements with a lot of the lyrics reflecting the world today. The Secret of Happiness is one of my favorite tracks – reminds me a bit of Between Two Islands (but slower and more lush). I really love Feel as well – the beats sound a bit like Numbers by Kraftwerk. ;)
Having heard it several times now and despite it clearly not being a classic it is growing on me. I’m surprised people aren’t comparing it to Behaviour though, granted the more up tempo tracks wouldn’t have been out of place on Introspective or Please but the majority of the album has that slower pace and the strings which hark back to Behaviour more than any other album.
The second disc though sheesh I’d have to agree with the general consensus it is poor perhaps the darker EDM intro to It’s A Sin being the only saving grace. However that intro goes nowhere nor is it expanded on unfortunately. In fact the second disc (thankfully only 18 minutes long) reminds me of that godawful last U2 album where they ruined/reinvented their back catalogue.
Good review!
Have not yet heard the album pre ordered it for several weeks ago from Amazon UK and they will ship it today and I also receive a “Great News” mail from Amazon that I saved 0,01 GBP according my pre order price.
Fantastic bonus(-:
A solid and enjoyable listen from start to finish and possibly the most consistent PSB album since Very. Like his recent work with Depeche, James Ford has breathed new sonic life into a band and Loneliness works much better as an album into than a single for some reason. Agree with the reviewer, the remix versions of older tracks is somewhat pointless and feel like cheap inferior versions to the illustrious originals. Not sure why they bothered to do that when their hardcore fan base crave new tracks?
After a few listens, Nonetheless is coming across as a solid album with its highlights on side 1. I think Hotspot was marginally better and more consistent across the board. Being Boring is the most interesting of the reworked tracks on the second disc.
For me, the imperial phase ended in 1991 with the release of Discography. A perfect example of how you do a singles compilation – all the singles in order, in their single versions.
So my rankings for now are:1 Behaviour, 2 Actually, 3 Please, 4 Introspective, 5 Electric, 6 Release, 7 Bilingual, 8 Fundamental,
9 Yes, 10 Nightlife, 11 Hotspot, 12 Nonetheless, 13 Very, 14 Super, 15 Elysium
Although it’s technically a compilation, Disco is my favourite one.
You end the album review with ‘Impressive’ which I think would make a great title for their next album…
Enjoying the new album and the new remix disc. Favorite new track is ‘Sense of Time’, b-side from the ‘Dancing Star’ single.
Aside from Bullet and Schlager, I think it’s their most consistent work in a long, long time, a classic PSB album, though I wish one of the aforementioned average tracks had been replaced with If Jesus Had A Sister, one of their best b-sides. As for Furthermore, I think the new version of Being Boring is excellent but the rest is instantly forgettable; they’ll never top the Introspective version of Always On My Mind. I’d much rather have had instrumental versions of the album.
Standouts for me: The Secret of Happiness, Love is the Law, A New Bohemia, Feel, Loneliness.
I’ve been a fan of the duo since the beginning and never tire of their music. While I get why many on here find this album good, but not great, or, in some cases, not even good I think comparing everything they do now to their early days is a mistake. The problem is that they set the benchmark so damn high that judging anything synthpoppy against their output from Please through to Very will only result in one conclusion… it’s not as good. I love 80s synth bands, but none of them, as good as some of them are, can hold a candle to PSB. The duo managed to make music that can be listened to on two levels… as lightweight catchy synthpop you can have on in the car or lyrically brilliant masterpieces that run a commentary across the decades. No other band can do that IMO.
Their albums in that period were Please, Actually, Introspective, Behaviour and Very…. there is simply not a bad song on any of them.
Their singles are even more impressive: West End Girls, Love Comes Quickly, Opportunities, Suburbia, It’s a Sin, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Rent, Always on My Mind, Heart, Domino Dancing, Left to My Own Devices, It’s Alright, So Hard, Being Boring, How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?, Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You), Jealousy, DJ Culture, Was It Worth It?, Can You Forgive Her?, Go West, I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing, Liberation, Yesterday, When I Was Mad, Paninaro ’95
Show me another band that has a run of singles like that…. not a duffer amongst them.
So if today they are not making music quite as sharp as their ‘imperial phase’ I think they can be forgiven, but judged on its own merits it’s still pretty impressive for a band who have been around for 40 years now. I’ll just continue to enjoy all their music and here’s to a 16th in a few years time.
Soft Cell have done pretty good too over the years.
So did Depeche Mode..
Love Depeche Mode but feel they stopped being a synthpop band a long time ago. YMMV of course.
I’d say Underworld is the only band (having essentially started making music as Freur around the same time as PSB starting) that comes close to continuing to reinvent and be relevant and have the Art/Arty thing as a constant and without taking decades to make records. Different music and a different kind of brilliant. But the string of pop hits by PSB is simply unprecedented.
Finally there’s someone who thinks like I do, was starting to believe I was the only one
Comparisons are inevitable, and many of us have lived with their music for more than 30 years. It could be true that we eventually outgrow the original aesthetic of the band; after all, it’s fairly unprecedented that a pop duo will consistently produce music for such a long period. Does familiarity truly breed contempt?
By way of another comparison, the return of ABBA after 40 years of inactivity propelled expectations beyond anything they could possibly fulfil. The fact they undercut all those expectations by producing “just” another ABBA album speaks to their wisdom. Voyage may have disappointed some people, but I was excited beyond any measure – more excited than the release of any new PSB – and I still play the album (it may not have the same energy, but it’s their most consistent, cohesive album).
So I guess I’m just trying to say I’ve heard it all before. PSB produce a new album and there are always some gems. They don’t rock my world in the way they did when I was young, and that would be a strange thing, anyway. PSB are doing exactly what they like and more power to them.
Great review Paul. I agree, this is a rather excellent 4.5/5 album which rewards repeated listening. There’s not a single track I dislike and several I absolutely love. The sequencing is inspired – building up to 3’45” into final track Love is the Law, where the chord change and extra strings kick in to awesome effect. I don’t have a BluRay player so haven’t purchased that format but I have listened to the Dolby Atmos mix on suitable headphones and it’s an absolute revelation. Enough to make me want to change my whole hifi set-up!
As a devotee since 1985, it’s certainly a reasonable album and probably the best since Elysium or Electric but they seem to have lost that gift of the killer hook. I guess it comes to all and their ‘generally around imperial’ phase lasted a good deal longer than anyone else I can think of! Great to have new material anyway but Superfluous is exactly the right title!!!
My Wham!/Paul Young bundle also arrived today, thank you Paul and Anne!
For me, Feel is the best song on this album by a country mile, but that’s just my opinion
I think the album is excellent, just like Hot Spot which I loved. I’m glad I have the blu-ray but the mix is kinda meh. Too much in the front speakers if you ask me. It doesn’t wow me as much as other mixes did (like Paul Young’s No Parlez blu-ray which is crazy good). The Pet Shop Boys are a guarantee for quality. They have aged gracefully. I wonder if there is any writers duo that has had more hits and success than Tennant/Lowe (except for Jagger/Richards, Elton John/Taupin and perhaps Lennon /McCartney).
Looks like the Hi Res stereo on the Blu Ray has been horribly limited/compressed.
Please stop this at the very least for the Hi Res versions and master for dynamics. Some subtle limiting to remove the odd peak makes sense but come on!
This is not the first time on a Blu-ray. It was evident on Peter Gabriel’s I/O where the Atmos was fine but the 48/24 stereo recordings were compressed, and the Soft Cell NSEC Blu-ray where the 96/24 stereo recording was horribly compressed to be almost unlistenable to my ears. It’s 2024: why are hi-res stereo recordings being compressed!
The reason is that artists seem to like it. I don’t know why, either.
Hi Paul,
While I agree with you on most counts the Peter Gabriel I/O mix is a strange one. I have a friend who has worked with Gabriel in the past and he used to whinge about how particular Gabriel was about getting final mixes to sound right on decent home audio equipment. Indeed I think I’m right in saying he mastered his Us album using Naim amplification for that reason so if the I/O 48/24 recordings sound compressed I will be surprised if Gabriel himself approved it. Might well be wrong and you are closer to this stuff than I but it seems at odds with his usual meticulousness.
I think Mark Sinclair on this forum actually challenged Real World and was told specifically that the stereo was exactly as PG wanted it, which I agree is weird, but there you go.
Probably because most people these days are listening on crappy computer speakers or earbuds. And then there are the people who think that all bass sounds need to rattle the car speakers. Plus they’ve mostly grown up with the overcompressed, oversaturated audio of the loudness wars being the standard, and simply don’t know any better.
That’s a big part of why I didn’t bother with the blu ray. Almost nobody masters for dynamics anymore.
Loving the new PSB album and agree with your review. The two lead singles were a great taster for the album and I believe there are at least 3 more tracks that could be singles.
I agree with others opinions here on the Futhermore tracks nice but unnecessary, it would have been great to get some remixes of Loneliness instead.
Paul can I ask what the issue was with the Irish Tax Authority etc as I’m waiting on my Wham and PSB Blu Rays
I got the despatch email for them but wondering will there be a delivery issue on the Irish side.
To answer the last question they’ll be no issues with delivery now!
It’s the Pet Shop Boys in glorious immersive/surround sound and i love it!! And apologies for going slightly off topic but my Blu-ray player is sizzling right now as a lovely package containing my Wham Fantastic/Make it big and Paul Young No Parlez Blu’s arrived this morning and I am really in 80’s heaven… Again Thank you Paul and team for bringing the joy!!
Superb, Robert. Very happy you are enjoying the music!
This is the ONLY PSB album I’ve ever bought ( have quite a few of their 12”’s, never liked any album enough) but I’m loving this one! TOTALLY agree about the bonus 12”. It’s… fine? But I have the original Heart/AOMM/ It’s a sin, never liked Being Boring and still don’t, and they’re all too similar. Would have liked very different remixes even I didn’t actually ‘like’ them, or album remixes, or SOMETHING else. They clearly have plenty of B-sides for the singles, another disc of them would have been great. The signed postcard is nice though, and the poster. But for people who aren’t bothered about them, the standard vinyl or CD is probably enough, you’re not missing much with the extra disc IMO.
Neil has said elsewhere that it is their ‘Queer’ album so maybe those that are would like to read it from that perspective also as well as as a ‘Lockdown’ album?
‘Dancing Star’ (Nureyev) has more than a hint of ‘Lucky Star’ by Madonna when they get to the ‘Paris, New York, Copenhagen..’ bit. The last minute of ‘Love is the Law’ (They finally write a song that IS actually about ‘Rent’… “Love’s a profession plied beneath the moon’… A ‘trick’ of the ‘trade’) with its sort of electronic choral effect and strings is magnificent. The nod to ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ in ‘Loneliness’ is fun. Feel’ has more queer energy ‘You make me feel like nobody else’s man’ as does ‘New London Boy’… ‘and live my invented life… Is everyone gay?’
It’s a fantastic album I think about being older and gay. With later albums there always seems to HAVE to be… a ‘German’ song (The Schlager Hit Parade), ‘Russian’ (Dancing Star), ‘Latin/South America’ (The Secret of Happiness’ … which is very Astrud Gilberto… and such a pity she passed so recently as it would have been a great song for her to have covered)… and U.K./U.S. Politics (Bullet for Narcissus).
The bonus re-recordings are great as they sound like the sound of ‘NOW’ to have especially ‘Being Boring’ with it’s slight lyric change, though ‘re-recordings’ as usually done by bands that have gone ‘down the dumper’ (and may not include all former members) so it’s surprised me PSB would have done these rather than remixed the O.G’s. It would be great to have these and the ‘new lockdown mix’ or ‘grum remix’ of ‘WEG’ and ‘super version’ of ‘LTMOD’ on a mini album… with some new remixes/re-recordings perhaps called ‘afterthought’ :)
The album tracks are better than the previous two, however, for the Deluxe Edition I was hoping for a 2nd disc of album instrumentals like Elysium and Hotspot instead of a couple of old hits remixed.
Go into Apple Music and turn the vocals down with the slider… simple… instrumentals.
Agreed on Furthermore. I imagine they thought the “lockdown version” of “West End Girls” was enough of a success to try a few more, perhaps simply using the Dreamworld tour midis? “It’s A Sin” I found the most interesting with what sounds to me like a bit of a Y2K trance vibe, only not quite Darude-y enough, not quite enough euphoric pay-off.
Disagreed on there not being a duffer on the album, I think Nonetheless would’ve been perfect with the absence of “Schlager Hit Parade”, much like I felt about Hotspot and “Wedding In Berlin”.
I think this album is ok. The Pet Shop Boys are legends, no question, but if they’d put this out in 1986 instead of Please, how many people would have taken notice?
I think the people who liked Deacon Blue and Prefab Sprout and other sophisticated pop would’ve been quite taken with it. Maybe PSB wouldn’t have become legends with “Loneliness” instead of “West End Girls”, but not a shabby legacy to be that calibre of band.
Furthermore is useless…I don’t even understand why they released this…however I think I’m going to love this album which will get better as I listen to it
A consistently good album and after a couple of listens, Why Am I Dancing? has emerged as my clear favourite. I’ll be hoping it makes the setlist at Birmingham in a few weeks time…. I’ll be there!!
Very good assessment. There are a handful of good songs that can go on next years greatest hits ;-)
Also agree with the 4 re done songs, waste of time and no better than originals.
I think it’s a decent album, but loses steam towards the end. I tend to blow hot and cold with PSB, I either really like their albums eg Super, Electric or it is a total miss for me eg Hotspot, Elysium. This falls somewhere in the middle, am looking forward to seeing them at RoH in July
First listen and I quite enjoyed it. It definitely has a classic PSB vibe to it which is no bad thing.
The new remixes on the bonus disc are mediocre IMHO. I never thought I would say/write that about any PSB remix given their output with 12″ and CD singles has generally been excellent over their illustrious career. Maybe I know the songs too well but they just sound so inferior to the originals.
Anyway, any PSB release is a positive thing so looking forward to giving Nonetheless many more listens.
I’m not sure how I feel about this album yet. I had a viscerally negative reaction to “The Schlager hit parade” and I wish “Feel” had more oomph. “Loneliness” is quality, though, and I think “Why am I dancing?” is my favorite so far. I don’t think the bonus disc is as bad as stated here, and I thought the new “Heart” had some charm, but I agree that the rest don’t meet the “might listen to this instead of the original from time to time” standard.
PSB stopped feeling special for me a long time ago. Every one of their albums has something to recommend it, but they sound absolutely worn out now. The singles for this album have been totally blah and there’s not even a suggestion of anything new; everything sounds like a a more refined, less interesting permutation of something from before.
Loved them for decades. This is where I bid adieu.
I found the two singles extremely lacklustre, I just hope the other album tracks are better otherwise will give this a swerve.
It’s all more of the same, but this time with real strings. They’re competing with their own catalogue and will always come up short. I’ve loved so much of their music but this is the end point of diminishing returns.
Heart was originally produced by Andy Richards and PSB, not Julian Mendelsohn.
Agree with your review, fantastic album. Also worth pointing out the Kraftwerk inspired drum track on ‘Feel’ and the Hooky/New Order guitar line on A Bullet for Narcissus. Will it get to number one. Unfortunately PSB have a habit of releasing their albums the same time as a huge release.
‘Actually’ was released the same time as Michael Jackson’s BAD,
‘Introspective’ was released the same week as U2’s Rattle and Hum
and
‘Behaviour’ was released the same week as Paul Simon’s Graceland follow-up The Rhythm of the Saints.
Given I have the BR now, I think I’ll give this one a more frequent listen. I did not buy Hotspot nor Super after a few pre-listens as they both felt, as one SDE member once put it: PSB-by-numbers. This albums feels as such too.
A few tracks do stand out but I’m afraid it’s more of generica again. To me, Electric was the last album with substance. Maybe I’m expecting to be knocked off my feet, and am not. I have had the same experience of disappointment with DD and DM.
Lastly, no band (that I know of) rehashed old material and made it better. Danse Macabre anyone?
Seems to be the case here too.
Let’s hope we can enjoy it one of these days, as soon as the Irish Tax Authority / the IOSS provider problems are solved.
Issues fixed, it seems, so EU shipping is happening today! Apologies for the wait.
Good News !!
Good to know ! Than the PSB and Wham discs are on their way soon :-)
Fantastic album and not a bad song though I find Why am I dancing? fairly overrated and Narcissus lyrically clichéd and weak. Love is the law is easily the best track and their best closer since King’s Cross. As for Furthermore, there may not be a point but I’m happy they’ve been released. Being boring is pure magic and deserves a single release in itself. The other three are fairly uninspired with Always on my mind pretty naff. Overall, their best, most consistently good album since Very.
I’m in almost full agreement with your review. If not quite their very best work, it’s a really good album and a testament to their powers that, 40 years in, they can produce an album that is not self-indulgent and is consistently very good.
I was also amused by your comment about the ‘horns’ on the re-record of Always On My Mind. My sentiments entirely.
Great review. Thanks, Paul.
It’s an ok ish album that needs a few more listens I think as nothing really stands out for me. The 4 remixes never get close to the originals so doubtful if I’ll ever listen to them again………
It truly is a fantastic album and what a great review, excellent kudos to you Paul-I would actually venture that this may be their most consistent album since Yes and probably their best album of this millennium
My copy arrived Sunday (the zoetrope version – why oh why did I do that!)
A huge fan since the beginning it says a lot it took me until last night (Wednesday) to stick it on. Probably because although initially underwhelmed by Loneliness (in contradiction to my real life overwhelmedness of same) eventually it was indeed a grower. I thought it harked back to Disco 3 bass synth sounds. So then I was very disappointed in Dancing Star, not worthy of an old “b” side. So three listens in (reverted to Spotify in my morning traffic jam) I think I have fallen out of love with them. Hotspot I never got on with, and I suspect this will be the same. Yes, the lush strings are, well, lush but I just can’t find many hooks. And in some cases the expected melody or hook to come in the next line goes left field. I just don’t think I’ll be able to remember these melodies. Sadly I was looking forward to “schlager “ being some kind of brilliant oom pah pah laugh most. But no even it is a bit meandering. So disappointed. Fave track is Loneliness by a mile now. Nothing else grabbing me. Will stick with it (but not the rumbly zoetrope) but I’m not optimistic. Shame. For the record my favourite albums are Behaviour, bilingual, Elysium, Yes and Super. With Release and Fundamental sitting with this one. And wish they’d stop that interminable tour. I’ve seen all the tours and wanna go see a new one.