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Pet Shop Boys find their release

By Joanna Wilson
BBC News Online

From West End Girls and It's A Sin to Go West and recent hit Home and Dry, the Pet Shop Boys' unique brand of pop has spanned almost 20 years.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe's latest album, Release, finds them in classic Pet Shop Boys mode, if a little less epic than previous efforts.

Do you still get excited about releasing your records?

Neil: We get very excited about it. I always go into my local record shop and see if it's displayed. It's very exciting when you suddenly hear it on the radio. I don't think you ever get blasé about that.

How is this album different from the others?

Neil: I think the sound is different. It's not as epic as previous Pet Shop Boys material, but then we have always done a wide range of music. I think it's the most melodic album we've made.

Which songs on it do you like best?

Neil: The second half actually is the half I like best now, but I think that's often the case.
Chris: We've done the album like an old vinyl LP, so it's very much two halves.

Which song is your favourite?

Chris: Love Is A Catastrophe.
Neil: Maybe Love Is A Catastrophe as well, or the last track, You Choose - it's so philosophical and interesting and very beautiful.

Was making this album quite an easy process?

Neil: This was more of an organic album. We did it over the period of about a year, on and off. We were writing songs for our musical Closer To Heaven when we were working on this.

What can we expect in your tour?

Neil: This time we'll be playing big theatres. We're playing in Grimsby!
Chris: It's great because we get to go to all these exciting places instead of just Birmingham, Glasgow and London.

What is it like having a new generation of fans?

Neil: It's good. Our audience is always shifting anyway. Looking at websites and things I'm always surprised how young a lot of our audience is.

How is the music scene different now to when you first had a hit in the mid 80s?

Neil:In the 80s when you put a record out it would chart, then it would go up the next week, and up again the next, etc.
Nowadays everything is arranged so that really when your record charts it is the beginning of the end. It used to be more exciting climbing (the charts) and seeing TV appearances make a difference.
In the 80s it was creatively competitive. And I don't think it seems like that now, although there are maybe some people like that, but it doesn't really seem that way.
Chris: Pop music was completely different then - people actually wanted to do something different, dress themselves up and do fresh types of music, and write good songs, whereas now it's just a group wannabes really.
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