You may not recognise Pet Shop Boys if you see them in civilian dress.
Arriving for an interview at their record company’s offices in West London to discuss their new album, singer Neil Tennant, 69, is dressed smartly, almost posh, while his colleague and keyboardist Chris Lowe, 64, appears in a washed-out hoodie.
“He did not dress up,” says Tennant with a grin about his colleague, who – unlike in photos and at concerts – is not wearing his sunglasses.
Pet Shop Boys are in the best of spirits – and it is no wonder. After around 40 years in the business, the British duo is as popular as ever. Their Dreamworld tour is filling large concert halls everywhere. The tour will wind up in June with five already sold-out concerts in the Royal Opera House, in London.
Now, their 15th studio album – Nonetheless – has been released.
The pre-released single “Loneliness” opens the album with graceful orchestral sounds before a driving beat kicks in and Tennant’s trademark soft voice. The slightly melancholic number is an absolute earworm.
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Together with the music video, you might assume it is about the loneliness of being gay in an intolerant world. But Pet Shop Boys, whose songs play an important role in Andrew Haigh’s recently released queer drama All Of Us Strangers, dismiss this idea.
“Maybe it is also about age,” Tennant says. “When you get older, your social life can shrink a bit, almost deliberately. You shrink it, in fact, maybe because you haven’t got as much energy. Might have something to do with that. But it is certainly not a gay thing. I think it is an age thing.”
There are many themes in the album. In “New London Boy”, the singer remembers his beginnings in the British capital when he worked as a reporter for a music magazine.
“Dancing Star”, a disco song with an 80s retro sound, is dedicated to the legendary Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. That is in strong contrast to “Bullet For Narcissus” about a bodyguard who has to protect Donald Trump, even though he despises the former US president.
“The Schlager Hit Parade” is a wonderfully ironic take on music shows in post-war Germany which sought to project a picture of an ideal world. Tennant sings about “Glühwein, wurst and sauerkraut” (mulled wine, sausage and sauerkraut) and a need for harmony, and Germans’ subliminal desire to leave the dark Nazi past behind.
There’s not a weak moment. I think we’re at the peak of our songwriting powers, which is sort of quite amazing at this stage
Pet Shop Boys have a close relationship with Germany – some of their albums were recorded in Hansa Studios in Berlin. “There used to be near us a very old-fashioned gay bar with very old-fashioned gay men in it, playing very old-fashioned gay music.
“It had an enormous penis candle, which was somehow obscene, but also gemütlich (cosy). This doesn’t exist in Britain any more.”
However, Nonetheless was recorded in London, in the studio of their producer James Ford, who also recently worked with Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode and Blur.
“He is really talented,” Chris Lowe says. “Everything went so quickly.”
On Nonetheless, Pet Shop Boys create an easy mix of retro sounds, 80s pop, orchestral arrangements and modern EDM beats. In “The Secret Of Happiness” they emulate lounge sounds à la Henry Mancini or Burt Bacharach to minimalist synth rhythms.
There are many earworms on the album. “Melodically, I think it is unbelievably strong,” Neil Tennant says self-confidently. “And all the songs are interesting. There’s not a weak moment. I think we’re at the peak of our songwriting powers, which is sort of quite amazing at this stage.”
This is high praise for their own work – and yet it is warranted in this case. Nonetheless is an intelligent and sophisticated late work – in short, a first-class pop album.