Pet Shop Boys
Parlophone/EMI
2009
Yes is the tenth studio from the Pet Shop
Boys. They are considered one of the most iconic and influential pop acts in
the world. In a career spanning over two decades, the duo of Neil Tennant and
Chris Lowe have created some of the most beloved and recognizable hits in the
world (West End girls, It's a sin, New York City Boy, etc.) and Yes continues
the success story.
The first time I listened to Yes I thought
it sounded a bit too much like so many of the Pet Shop Boys other albums and
didn’t offer enough that was new. But as I listened to it over the next week,
it slowly got under my skin and I realized how much it has to offer. On one
hand the Pet Shop Boys have returned to their roots and yet done so in a new
and very creative way.
While I liked the strong political stance
of Fundamental, Yes goes back to the lush mood of Very and really offers some
quite impressive tracks. Tennant and
Lowe hooked up with Xenomania, the
leading pop song writing production house in the UK and what has resulted is
really quite fabulous and its gets better each time you listen to it.
'All Over The World' is a pretty cool way
to open an album, combining a strong dance sound with samples of Tchaikovsky.
At the same time is not all pop, there are
some reflective ballads such as “King Of Rome” and “Legacy” which are certainly
resonant of Behavior and some of their best efforts from over the years.
I certainly enjoyed the diversity of
styles on one album, from ballads to the upbeat riot of Pandemonium to the
campy Did You See Me Coming and the insightful Building a Wall.
This is another success story from Tennant
and Lowe that shows they have a more in store for us yet. Yes is certainly
worth a listen, you will be very pleasantly surprised.
The
single from Yes is "Love etc"
which the Pet Shop Boys describe the song as "a post-lifestyle anthem
which sounds like nothing we've done before."
See
the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InBiaRBUjUs
This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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