LONDON – Chicken Kiev, AI-generated press releases and the annoyance of fan selfies during performances – there was a lot on Pet Shop Boys’ minds as the iconic British duo prepared to release a new album.
Their 15th studio album, “Nonetheless,” arrives 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 those this long – often respond to the cliché: “How do you stay relevant?” For them, it’s about never trying to be nice.
“This is something that a lot of people try and do, to be somehow cool, which is completely boring, because it’s trying too hard,” Tennant told the Associated Press recently. “So we just followed our own instincts.”
“We will always be relevant in our world,” Lowe added, laughing.
A testimony to this relevance? Classic hits by the Pet Shop Boys were used as plot points in two cult films last year: a karaoke scene in “Saltburn” with “Rent” and a key Christmas scene in “All of Us Strangers,” with soundtrack sound of “Always on My Mind”.
This is a far cry from Hollywood’s past, where, says Tennant, “It’s a Sin” was always overused to the young man walking into a gay club, “reducing us to this kind of gay club cliché.”
“However” remains optimistic despite being written in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic when most people were locked at home.
“Well, the weather was nice, wasn’t it?” Lowe jokes.
“It was a very productive time,” adds Tennant, noting that canceling the tour eased the pressure.
“I think that’s why it seems quite optimistic, because life was different. It was a different life, without pressure, as well as 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 being alone so much so you can actually dance?”
“And I’m probably cooking at the same time,” he quickly adds.
“Cooking and dancing, that’s a little podcast idea, isn’t it?” Lowe jokes.
And while Lowe says he would put a finished pie in the oven, Tennant would make dal, brown rice and vegetables or chicken Kiev.
“You have a good story for that,” says Tennant, looking at his bandmate.
“I wrote to Marks (UK supermarket) & Spencer…asking them to change the spelling of Chicken Kiev to Chicken Kiev because of the war,” says Lowe. They eventually changed that.
Despite experiencing major changes in the way music is consumed, the band remains philosophical. Despite the new ways of listening to and discovering music, “music is still music”.
And when it comes to Spotify, even though Lowe says it’s helped him discover a lot of new music, they both hate the app’s recommendations.
“With us The Pet Shop Boys, he’ll say, ‘If you like that, maybe you like Duran Duran,’ and then he thinks you’re all from the ’80s,” explains Tennant. “And if you’re us, you say, ‘You might like the electronic pop music Years and Years or the Kraftwerk before us.’”
“Sometimes they might think, ‘Well, you’re gay, so you might like Boy George because he’s gay too.’ It’s very, very stupid,” he says.
The Pet Shop Boys will perform five special performances at London’s Royal Opera House in July, but please don’t run to the front of the stage and then turn your back to take a selfie.
“I just deliberately get out of the way. Sorry to be a killjoy, but I think it’s very, very rude,” says Tennant.
However, cell phone users are not all bad for business.
“Now you know when something is working because all the phones go out,” explains Tennant.
“The lighters are replaced by telephones for a ballad that looks really beautiful, it’s really moving,” he adds.
Artificial intelligence is changing the industry, but the band has no plans to use it anytime soon – well, at least not in their music.
When their publicist asked for a quote from the album for a press release, they turned to ChatGPT, who described the album as “a celebration of the unique and diverse emotions that make us human.” They agree.
“It’s a great quote,” admits Tennant. “We kind of agree with that. We usually make some flippant comments, whereas ChatGPT gave us a very serious description, which is actually accurate.”
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
