Super

Pet Shop Boys return with their 13th studio album - and show there's still life in the old dogs yet. The mood of the album is decidedly 'Up' with one eye firmly on the dance floor with only one exception.Opener 'Happiness' comes as a huge surprise and sounds like nothing else in their considerable canon. Sparse lyrics are delivered with an almost country and western twang in a style very reminiscent of Rednex's 'Cotton Eyed Joe'. "It's a long way to happiness / A long way to go / But I'm gonna get there, boy / The only way I know" sings Neil several times, almost the only lyrical content in this track. The title is spelt out almost as a nod to one of their early tracks 'Shopping' in the 30th anniversary since the release of debut album 'Please'. Once you are over the stylistic shock it's a real grower.Lead single 'The Pop Kids' is a warm look back at past glories gained during the 90's club scene and a great choice to promote the album. It sums up the duo as elder statesmen of pop reflecting on a time when the protagonists of the song knew all the words to the big hits of the era; whilst giving a sly nod to Neil's former role as Smash Hits editor. His duties included scribing the words to the current week's new releases - then the only place you could find this information.'Twenty-something' is a bouncy, infectious track that surely must be in the running for a future single. It describes the struggles of the 20-something generation trying to make ends meet in a big city run by "Decadent greed" and is really an updating thematically from 'Opportunities' as well as the Thatcher-era commentary of 'Actually' through the eyes of an older generation realising that times have grown tougher for those just starting out. It's that juxtaposition of upbeat music with deeper lyrics that highlight this as classic Pet Shop Boys territory.'Groovy' is much lighter in intent, though perhaps acts through its seemingly shallow lyrics as a commentary on the 'Me Me Me' attitudes of some of today's minor 'celebrities' who possess little discernable talent: "Look at me / Oh I'm so look at me / Oh I'm so look at me / I'm just so groovy!" opines Neil, taking the role of the mocked subject of the song. Again there's a huge dance beat going on disguising the mickey taking going on underneath. As with many PSB tracks you can take it at face value too, and this is also an upbeat dance track with tongue firmly in cheek.'The dictator decides' is top drawer PSB. Based around a Vivaldi composition, Chris' keyboards twinkle in another example of PSB utilising classical themes in their canon. Taking the persona of an unnamed dictator, Neil bemoans the challenges and loneliness of life as undisputed leader of an autocracy. "I live each day / Like a sad beast of prey / For I have to appear to be strong" is just a sample of the lyrical playfulness on show here. This is my favourite track on the album, one of a long line of tracks based on social commentary that shows what a master lyricist Neil is.By contrast 'Pazzo!' is a lightweight piece of fluff - and that isn't in any way meant in a derogatory sense. Part of the mastery of PSB is the sheer breadth of their output over 30 years. In two tracks you pretty much have both ends of that spectrum. The second almost instrumental track on the album, 'Pazzo!' is Italian for Crazy, Chris' nickname given to him by two Italian friends. It's a showcase for Chris, experimental in nature with keyboards producing many strange, eclectic sounds. It's a four-to-the-floor dance track that would work well in a club.'Pazzo!' and next track 'Inner sanctum' form a bridge between the two halves of the album, because what comes next is some of their strongest ever work. released as a teaser track for the album, 'Inner sanctum' is almost devoid of lyrics save for "In the inner sanctum / You're a star / The girls, the guys / They all know who you are". One could imagine 'The Pop Kids', introduced earlier, in an exclusive area of a nightclub. This euphoric track ups the dance theme of the album to new heights.'Undertow' has to be another candidate for a future single. "There's an undertow / Pulling me to you / There's an undertow / Dragging me down" begins the lyrics, backed by driving stabs of keyboard. Seemingly about falling in love (or lust), this isn't the deepest lyrically, it's just a great upbeat track.The only ballad on the album, 'Sad robot world' started life as a lyric following a tour of a VW factory in Germany. Neil thought of the title after watching "The mechanical ballet" of the machines. It's almost a commentary on some of the challenges faced in 'Twenty-something' - increasing automation making jobs harder to find for today's generation trying to enter the workforce. It's absolutely gorgeous musically, but as so often with PSB there's social commentary in deeper layers bubbling under the surface.'Say it to me' begins a huge dance-themed three-track closing run to the album. Almost techno in style, this is serious dance music, thematically explained by the opening couplet "My predicament is simply this / You're an enigma even when you kiss" describing the relationship of a misfiring couple, one partner seemingly expecting the other to second guess their requirements. "Tell me what you want from me" sings Neil, taking the role of the simpler soul searching for an explanation. It a real grower.'Burn' has many thematic similarities to The Trammps 'Disco Inferno', a nod to the mid-70's disco era. "We're gonna burn this disco down / Before the morning comes" states the chorus, revealing another song based in a nightclub. Originating from a 20 year-old demo, 'Burn' is pure dance music, almost irresistibly so. It's a joyous, uplifting track with Chris' keyboard stabs to the fore. A triumphant foot-stomper.Closer 'Into thin air' is based around the theme of escape, something Neil has explored before in a very different mode on 'Elysium' in 'Leaving' and 'Invisible'. It could have many interpretations: It could be about getting away on a short break holiday; about eloping; or a darker, craved for escape from life and its problems - that's the beauty of PSB when they produce a song with more layers than an onion. An absolutely top drawer PSB track, a closer second to 'The dictator decides'.That PSB can produce such a rounded, staggeringly adept album 30 years on from 'Please' just cements their status as Britain's greatest, most successful pop duo. This is quite simply, their best work since 'Very'. Despite there being some lightweight tracks it's quite deliberate that they are lightweight - there isn't a weak track here. An absolute triumph.

Excellent album

If, like me, you thought PSB more or lost their touch after Very, which bookended a remarkable run including Results and the b sides, then you may be pleasantly surprised by aspects of this album. I stayed faithful for a while, splashing out on Bilingual, Nightlife, Release, Fundamental and some associated singles (always worth checking the B sides!) but I was disappointed with the results and I loosely followed them on the net after that. In other words, about 9-10 years of their career was exceptional and then the next twenty was mostly quite 'niche' with some exceptions. These would include It always comes as a surprise, The Samurai in Autumn, Delusions of grandeur, and After the Event and you could double that number if you accept that stuff like Hit and Miss and Always is just lacking a little sharpness or development. Die hard fans will disagree strongly but the album sales would probably side with me. The Pet Shop Boys became a different outfit from Bilingual onwards, for reasons I won't go into here, but the difference in style is tangible. It's not that Super sees them harking back to the days of Actually and Introspective. It's that with time PSB seem to have learnt how to work with their new muse. The result is something short but quite sweet. The modern PSB, with many of their limitations, but with some of those lovely chord sequences and incisive lyrics of old. Oh and with the deeply impressive The Dictator Decides in its midst. Not since Introspective have we seen PSB pulling off 12 inch length tracks that are as tight as singles. Okay, it's not quite as long as a 12 inch but I'll take it and I'll take this album over anything released after Very (besides the superb b side compilation Alternative). It's a mere aperitif compared to their best albums but it does the job an album should, which is be fun to listen to end to end. Well done boys, I've long wanted this and I didn't think you had it in you.

The album is a "grower", I have found with several pets albums that the first listen just isn't' enough, granted there are some aspects of this album that are less Pet Shop Boys than previous efforts.The album arrived today and certainly in hearing the first track I was a bit confused as it seemed to be a bit country and western style, a previous reviewer likened it to Cotton Eye Joe ( that god awful group from years ago) and I can see the similarity so I am not entirely sold on that song just yet.However, Pop kids was better than I expected having only heard a smal clip somewhere, I think having listened to the lyrics it made more sense so I quite like that.The remainder of the album has similarities to the previous 'Electric' album (which I was unsure of on my first play of it) but Sad robot is a nice pets tune. There is a lot of dance inspired music here which I was never really a fan of but I quite like the way the pets do it and there are several tunes that would not be out of place in a club setting.As I was doing some tasks today I left the album on repeat so have heard it 4 or 5 times now and I can confidently say I like it enough to give a solid 4 star rating, it is not one of the best but with a back catalogue like theirs you can't please everyone all of the time.I think any true pets fan will buy this and I think they should, it is a good album but each fan will have different views on this compared to other albums, I recall Elysium getting mixed reviews but I think both the versions of the album were great but it was different and sometimes different sounds weird until you get used to the differing style that they applied to each album.