Pet Shop Boys

The Pet Shop Boys have long been known for their arch, uncaring image (all yawns and blank stares) but this time out they embrace an upbeat, Up With People vibe while simultaneously returning to their English pop roots (more melancholy pop melodies and less arms-raised dance anthems). That's not to say that PSB have turned into Jack Johnson-style acoustic troubadours, but this ends up as their most organic and assessable album since 1990's Behavior (old friend Johnny Marr even shows up). "Beautiful People" is '60s pop gone electro while "King of Rome" could be covered by Duffy or Sade

For nearly 25 years, the Pet Shop Boys have been Euro-disco's poet laureates, setting
epigrams worthy of Oscar Wilde to thumping Hi-NRG production. On their excellent 10th
album, the music leans toward the ornate, with snatches of Tchaikovsky and
spaghetti-Western atmospherics enveloping the synths and house beats. Neil Tennant and
Chris Lowe are now past 50, and some songs take a surprisingly philosophical tur... More >