The Pop Corporation

The Pet Shop boys, despite their occasional protestations, are the benchmark for smart pop music. When you listen to them, you can feel your brain being tickled while your feet move – they’re really made of magic when they’re on form. So with that, we’re looking at their latest LP ‘Nonetheless’, which they’ve dubbed their ‘queer’ album.

They’ve been at it for decades now and the truly wonderful thing is that they somehow straddle the notion of growing old gracefully, but also, with a glint in the eye that tells you not too gracefully. ‘Nonetheless’ opens up with the Moroder-pulse of ‘Loneliness’ which is a beautiful example of euphoric melancholy – it’s a shirt remover, all amyl and disco lights – but this is PSB and you notice you’ve just been singing along to the line “like Ringo walking by the canal, downcast and alone”, and if that isn’t the most perfect encapsulation of what this pair are about, we don’t know what is.

There’s neon synths shooting all over the shop with utterly heartbreaking orchestrations, all through the skewed lens of Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant. In ‘Dancing Star’, ‘Bullet for Narcissus’ and ‘Feel’, it’s all hot Eurodance that leans back toward the ‘Boys imperial years. When they hit their stride, the gravitational pull they have makes them irresistible, especially in the latter track.

There’s more bruised moments too, such as the midtempo sophistipop of ‘New London Boy’. It’s a lesson in Tennant’s superb cinematic eye, bringing back his ‘West End Girls’ rap with;

New London boys
Can’t afford to be scared
You take it on the chin
And win in your head
Skinheads will mock you
Call you a fag
Last laugh is yours
There’s brick in you bag…

It’s a superb kitchen sink drama, presumably of Tennant’s first foray into the capital, all stolen glances and fumbles with sexuality and the glamour of pop music and fashion. This pairs beautifully with a track that echoes of Scott Walker, ‘A New Bohemia’, which sees Tennant crooing “where have they gone, les Petites Bon-Bons? Who dances now to their sweet old song?”

There’s no-one quite like them, is there?

And that’s the thing. Whether you’re listening to paeans to adolescents, or a cynical, wiser eye, whatever The Pet Shop Boys are telling you, it’s always worth leaning in and listening. Sure, the rhythm tracks and glorious synths are always seductive, but scratch the surface and there’s so much there. It’s what they specialise in, like all good synthpop and disco should. And then they drop a track on you called ‘The Schlager Hit Parade’ and the title alone makes a huge smile break across your face, because there really isn’t anyone quite like them.

You will always find at least one real gem on a Pet Shop Boys album, but this one is absolutely littered with them. ‘The Secret To Happiness’ is a bontempi bossa nova movie shot through the PSB viewfinder, slowly revealing itself into the finest set of ’70s kitschy strings you’ve ever heard and it is thoroughly glorious, swaying and swoonsome and just so, so lovely.

By the time the album wraps up with ‘Love Is The Law’, you’re reminded of film noir, ’60s spy flicks and Tennant leans in to say;

From wiser lips
I’ve heard it said
“Love is a profession
As old as time
Watch it and learn it
Study it and earn it
You’ve a hеad for business
And a heart for crime”

It’s almost unimportant when Neil Tennant is being autobiographical or playing a role in each of the songs. He’s said that there’s not enough role-play in pop, and with the Pet Shop Boys, we’ve got the greatest of character actors alongside the likes of Ray Davies and Damon Albarn – he can embody a character, and maybe, if you’re paying enough attention, you might learn something about one of pop’s great chameleons… or worse still… something about yourself, perish the thought.

‘Nonetheless’ is the best and strongest Pet Shop Boys album in a while, and seeing as they’re just about as perfect as you can get, that’s really saying something. This is a superb album that’ll have you weeping while you wave your arms around in the air, just like all those greats that came before them. Cherish it.