Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc. (Parlophone)
4/5
By: Tom Hocknell
BUY DOWNLOADSwinging in with icy, ambient synths not dissimilar to Erasure during their 1993/95 peak, 'Love Etc.' sounds unlike anything they've done before, and it's their best lead single since 'Can You Forgive Her'.
The dichotomy between defiant melodies and the pathos of Tennant's voice remain, but this has camp turned down, while bearing the 'Go West' terraces in mind. It's very electronic and almost doesn't have a chorus. Or has four.
Importantly in current pop, the 'you need love more than power and wealth' is the perfect antidote to modern R&B, although it's 'you don't have to be beautiful, but it helps' line wryly acknowledges the reality. It's their own answer to 'Flamboyant'.
So while P. Diddy prats about on a jet-ski wearing a tuxedo, promoting his aftershave 'Ego'(it's unlikely mankind has ever so unanimously wished for the sudden appearance of a sandbank), Pet Shop Boys once again prove their innate understanding pop, as this modern, mid-tempo, 'Tubthumping'-esque call to arms, keeps them atop of their (very) particular pop game.
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