YES, yes, yes!
After the maudlin, muted "pleasures" of last year's Elysium, Electric is not just a return to form by Lowe and Tennant, but an album that snaps, crackles and pops around the dancefloor with the elan and energy of a much younger act.
The Pet Shop Boys haven't sounded this engaged for a long time. Nor this good. Electric is a glorious mash-up of Purcell, Bruce Springsteen (his track The Last To Die is covered; no irony involved), Tony Benn namechecks and the odd Pet Shop Boy quote. Put a lot of this down to producer Stuart Price, who has worked with everyone from Madonna to The Killers. He makes the most of the album's crisp, crunchy beats and also enhances them with a whole host of sonic textures. It's a record full of depth and novelty.
The songs aren't bad either. Everyone's raving about the track Love Is A Bourgeois Concept (the Purcell sampling one), but Fluorescent is better, a dark murky monster that seems to have been listening to porn movies, sci-fi soundtracks and Visage's Fade To Grey. The album finishes on a real high with first Example joining Lowe and Tennant on Thursday (complete with Chris Lowe talky bit) and then Vocal, which might be the album's true keeper.
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