Pet Shop Boys say their new music is their gayest yet: “This is our queer album”
Nonetheless, English synth-pop legends the Pet Shop Boys are anything but being boring.Vocalist Neil Tennant, 69, and keyboardist Chris Lowe, 64, are dropping their new record while simultaneously celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first single “West End Girls.”The momentous occasion comes as Tenant, who came out as gay in 1994, has declared Nonetheless the duo’s “queer album.”Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.A post shared by BBC Arts (@bbcarts)While the PSB’s music has always resonated with LGBTQ+ audiences and touched on gay themes in subtle ways, Tennant says Nonetheless does so more overtly than ever before.“I think this is our queer album,” he told NME.
To which Lowe responded by joking, “Really?! I’m taking my copy back…”Case in point: The album’s first single “Loneliness” features a very gay video depicting muscular bodies, shower scenes, secret hookups and a glory hole.
All set to a thumping club beat.Feel the rush!Among the other tracks is “Love Is The Law,” which depicts Irish poet Oscar Wilde’s post-prison days in France watching the clandestine cruising of gay men in the area.
Tennant added: “So the language I’m trying to use is of sexual transactions – ‘trade’, ‘trick’ – American slang for picking someone up.”Another song entitled “A New Bohemia” is inspired by the ’70s queer art/activist troupe Les Petitis Bon-Bons who worked with disco trailblazer Sylvester.
