The Pet Shop Boys and the secret to staying cool
LONDON (AP) — Chicken Kiev, Aigenerated press releases and the annoyance of fan selfies while performing — there was a lot on the minds of the Pet Shop Boys as the iconic British duo prepared to release a new album.
Their 15th studio album, “Nonetheless,” comes Friday — 40 years (and 50 million record sales) after Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe rose to fame with the single “West End Girls.” Bands of any longevity — especially such a long one — are often asked the cliche: “How do you stay relevant?” For them, it’s about never trying to be cool.
“That’s something a lot of people try and do, to be somehow cool, which is therefore completely
uncool, because it’s trying too hard,” Tennant told The Associated Press recently. “So we have just followed our own instincts.”
“We’ll always be relevant in our world,” Lowe added, laughing.
A testament of that relevance? Classic Pet Shop Boys hits were used as plot points in two cult movies last year: a karaoke scene in “Saltburn” featuring “Rent” and a key Christmas scene in “All of Us Strangers” soundtracked by “Always on My Mind.”
This is worlds away from Hollywood past, where, Tennant says, “It’s a Sin” was always overused for the young guy walking into a gay club “reducing us to this sort of cliche of gay disco.”
“Nonetheless” remains upbeat despite being written in the U.K. during the coronavirus pandemic, when most people were locked down at home.
“Well, the weather was nice, wasn’t it?” Lowe jokes.
“It was a very productive time,” Tennant adds, noting that the cancellation of their tour eased the pressure.
“I think that’s why it sounds in a way quite optimistic, because life was different. It was a different sort of life with no pressure, apart from not trying to catch the virus,” he says.
The first single, “Loneliness,” addresses the social isolation of the pandemic but was written as a positive message. Another lockdown-themed track, “Why Am I Dancing?” was Tennant asking himself: “Why are you enjoying this situation of being by yourself so much so that you can actually dance?”
“And I’m probably cooking at the same time,” he is quick to add.
“Cooking and dancing, now that’s a little podcast idea, isn’t it?” Lowe jokes.
And while Lowe says he’d be popping a ready-made pie in the oven, Tennant would be making dal, brown rice and vegetables or a chicken Kiev.