The Pet Shop Boys have officially spilled the PSBeans on their upcoming Stuart Price-produced project.
In a news update on their official website today, the duo reveal that Electric will be released on July 15 and features 9 tracks, including a cover of Bruce Springstreen‘s “The Last To Die” (which they’ve been covering on the Electric Tour), as well as a song called “Thursday” featuring vocals by UK singer/rapper, Example.
The video for the album’s (mostly) instrumental opening track, “Axis,” is below, with a Boys Noize remix still on the way. For those following along, you’ll recognize the song from the album trailer released back in March.
Check out the full blurb and cover art below! (“Love is a bourgeois construct” is already my new favorite.)
Pet Shop Boys new album, “Electric”, will now be released worldwide on July 15th (international dates vary) and is the first to appear on their own label x2 through Kobalt Label Services. Produced by Stuart Price, “Electric” features nine tracks in total – eight brand new songs plus a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “The last to die” – and has a running length of 50 minutes. The British singer and rapper, Example, performs on one track, “Thursday”. The album was recorded in London, Berlin and Los Angeles over the last six months with one track, “Fluorescent”, written and recorded within the last month. Neil and Chris comment: “Our latest album often evolves as a response to our previous album and, whereas ‘Elysium’ had a reflective mood, ‘Electric’ is pretty banging! And working with Stuart Price on a studio album is something we have wanted to do for a very long time.” The artwork (shown here) is by Farrow.
1. Axis
2. Bolshy
3. Love is a bourgeois construct
4. Fluorescent
5. Inside a dream
6. The last to die
7. Shouting in the evening
8. Thursday (featuring Example)
9. Vocal
And now for something amazing.
Less than a year after releasing their dreamy eleventh studio album Elysium, the prolific Pet Shop Boys have announced that they’ve parted ways with their longtime label Parlophone Records after 28 years, signing a deal through Kobalt Music Services, which recently opened a Label Services division.
But that’s not all–they’ve already got a new album on the way called Electric (!), out in June (!!), produced by Stuart Price. (!!!)
Earlier this week, I posted my favorite singles from 2012. And now, it’s time for the albums.
Unlike last year, 2012 was not a very strong year for mainstream pop acts–at all. Most of the releases from pop’s biggest players, including P!nk, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Christina Aguilera, Ke$ha and Adam Lambert–were largely ‘okay’ at best, playing like rehashes of previous successes and hopping on radio trends du jour. The result was a yearlong onslaught of dubstep breakdowns and guitar-led YOLO dance-pop (“Live While We’re Young,” “Die Young,” “Starships,” et al.) Even the Queen of Reinvention herself–as much as I wouldn’t normally dare to admit this–bowed to some occasionally cringeworthy youth pandering on her 12th studio album, MDNA. (And could she ever really recover from Cher‘s merciless shade?)
But whereas conventional pop faltered, dozens of up-and-coming players from around the world shined bright (like a diamond), resulting in music that actually was–and still is–largely ahead of the curve: A Swedish trance-pop songstress, a Canadian R&B crooner, a British neo-soul darling and of course, a certain American-born throwback chanteuse that set the nation on fire in a red, white and blue blaze of glory.
Here are my Top 20 albums of 2012. As with the singles, there’s a Spotify link at the very end to hear all Top 20 albums in a row. Enjoy, and I’ll see you in 2013!
Today, the Pet Shop Boys release their eleventh studio album, Elysium. It’s absolutely brilliant and, if I catch a moment in between running after Madonna across the country and awkwardly chatting with Britney via webcam, I’d love to do a proper review.
The new Pet Shop Boys record, Elysium, arrives on September 10. The album artwork is above.
It’s nice and minimal in the grand tradition of all things PSB, but I keep staring and can’t help but think that something’s still missing. It’s just not quite right, is it? Therefore, I’ve gone ahead and done a little Photoshopping to see what I can do.
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