PET SHOP BOYS | Love Etc.

Available on:
x Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc. (2009) CD-S
x Pet Shop Boys - Yes (2009) CD

Credits:
Written by Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell & Owen Parker.
Produced by Brian Higgins/Xenomania.
Mixed by Jeremey Wheatley.
Keyboards & programming: Chris Lowe, Tim Powell, Fred Falke, Matt Gray, Brian Higgins, Owen Parker, Sacha Collisson.
Guitars: Owen Parker.
Backing vocals: Xenomania.
Mastered by Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering, London.
Published by Warner Chappell/Xenomania/Cage Music Ltd/Sony ATV.

Single information:
"Love Etc." is the first single from Pet Shop Boys' tenth studio album Yes. It is one of the three songs from the album co-written with Xenomania. The single was released on March 16th.

Peak position: #14 in the UK singles chart.

Notes:
x Neil Tennant: "The first single off our album was actually a track that Xenomania were keeping for a project they were going to do themselves. We managed to wrestle it from their solo project on to our album and then I came up with the idea of 'You don't have to be beautiful but it helps.' That became the basis of the lyric. Miranda wrote a very clever melody for the 'Boy, it's tough getting around the world' part, which isn't a melody either myself or Chris would have come up with. It's actually saying all you need is love and money can't buy me love. It's a return to The Beatles, and I think that's an appropriate sentiment for where the world is at the moment. We didn't sit down and plan to do that, it just came out, but it's definitely a song for 2009."

x They worked on the song from May 2008 until just before Christmas that year. Neil Tennant told Music Week: "Brian kept endlessly tweaking it, but I've never got sick of it. It sounds like us, without really being like anything else we have ever done."

x Speaking to The Word magazine, Neil said that he had a very heated debate with Brian Higgins over "Love etc.": "He wanted the chorus to happen twice at the start to establish it. I agreed, but insisted it had different lyrics. Well, he was having none of it. And neither was I. You can't just repeat it - it'll be boring! I thought his head was going to blow off."

REVIEWS
x 'Love Etc.' mixes the best of Xenomania and PSB. It's a collaboration that works well. The verse follows the typical PSB format, with familiar sounding chord changes. Then we are into Xenomania territory, with a chant-a-long first chorus, a Girls Aloud inspired second chorus, and a refrain which takes us back to the verse again. True to Xenomania form, the song refuses to follow standard verse-chorus-verse protocol, and so the unpredictability in this method works well with PSB's inherent ability to write good hooks. Popological

x The hit machine of the 1980's (and a bit beyond) meets the hit machine of the Noughties (the Xenomania production team who work with Girls Aloud and Sugababes) and what's the result? No surprises - it's a hit. (...)
The first obvious Xenomania influence is in the opening verse, underpinned by a signature shuffle tempo which is displaced in the chorus by a four to the floor bassline taking the song back to more familiar Pet Shop Boys territory. The second major influence is the use of the call and response chorus which is a regular Xenomania device rarely used by the Pet Shop Boys ("Left To My Own Devices" is a possible exception). These techniques update the Pet Shop Boys undoubted songwriting talents to appeal to a 2009 audience while retaining the laconic lyrical style which has always been their trademark. 4/5 Music Riot

x (...) it's beautiful, it's chanty, it's xenomaniacal, it's addictive and it's etc. Definitely a quirky choice for a comeback single but one that will hopefully earn them a higher chart position than the different but equally lovely Loving Kind. fizzypop

x A relatively slight song, but flashes of excellence; the slightly sinister plinky backing and the call and response chorus are both fine. Some problems though: the first verse's melody doesn't suit Neil Tennant's voice at all (a sign that while 25 years in the biz have made them sure of his strengths, it may have made them forget his weaknesses too) and the lyrics are frankly awful in places - "a supercar to get far", oh please. Still, miles better than "I'm With Stupid". 5/10 Edward Okulicz

x If I say that Neil Tennant's vocal presence has been getting wispier and more sly as the years go by, I hope you'll agree that's a compliment - by now he's pop's Holy Ghost, flitting through the Boys' maximalist synth-pop palaces (now with Xenomania!). This might be their best single since the mind-bendingly great "Flamboyant," and like that song it sees the band in a reflective, advice giving mood, one that suits them surprisingly well. At this rate, it's tempting to say that the empire never ended. 9/10 Ian Mathers

x The old allusions to the superficiality of a fabulous lifestyle are there too, as pertinent today as when they released Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) in the mid '80s. Love etc, their catchiest single in years, cocks an elegant snook at the high life ("Too much of anything is never enough / Too much of everything is never enough") musicOMH

x (...) the middle aged men of pop have, along with Xenomania, created a right old proper pop sensation. Whatever tonic these guys have been taking since they were last prodding at the pop charts, well they need to bottle it and sell it to all those other nostalgia-laden comeback wannabees. Maybe it was a session in the studio with the current queens of all who can do wrong - Girls Aloud. The Pet Shoppers provided the ten-legged, cocktail-swigging party machine with their last hit, The Loving Kind, and now it seems Neil and Chris are all warmed up and ready to hog the limelight once again (after donning compulsory shades, silly hat and black patent mattress doubling as coat of course). Virgin Music

x 'Love Etc' (...) has their signature written all over it. It's a smooth electro-pop composition which is essentially a medley of synthesisers, drum machines and keyboards. (...)
It's fair to say that the Boys' sound hasn't evolved much in the two decades they've been around, however it's apparent that the legendary duo are fully aware that their sound is not broken and thus have no intention of fixing it. 3/5 Daily Music Guide

x Love Etc has got an 80s indie-pop feel to it, with an oi-laddish chorus that makes me think of Chumbawumba's Tubthumping. Be warned, after the shock of first listen, it only takes one or maybe two more listens before the happiness-inducing melody is stuck in your head. Permanently. The Spicy Cauldron

x (...) it finds the duo staying a lot truer to the quality and form of their earlier work than a lot groups working on their third decade together. "Love etc." is a frigid synth concoction that evokes silhouettes of young people making out in a dark alley somewhere, with a slightly industrial edge. Like I said, they're staying pretty true to form. Prefix Mag

x It's a catchy, icy meld of Tennant's ageless voice spinning an excellently cynical -- but warm, because of the "love" component -- yarn about always needing more within a city of synthesizers, drum machines, and factory-line group chants that should appeal to fans of dance floors. Stereogum

x "Love, Etc." is simple and playful. There's the keyboard line, which is almost as endearingly unpretentious as Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" or Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head," at least in intent. And then the big, stadium-chant glam chorus that, while unquestionably catchy, could've come off ugly in other hands.
The gentle smile of the song is something Pet Shop Boys haven't done in a long while.
The whole thing's very even-paced, too, but still effective. It's hard to tell if it'll eventually be forgettable or a smart, little thing that latches onto your brain quite a lot over the next few months.
If nothing else, though, it's been a boom time for modern synth-pop these days, with 2009 looking like another peak, and it's nice to see one of the genre's leading essential lights likely being a part of it again. Dean Fawkes

x (...) a lovely bit of electro pop. It's uplifting, catchy and dancey. There are lots of synthesisers, drums and keyboards. Nothing new but it's a case of if it ain't broke, why fix it? 3/5 Sunday Mail

x Contemporary painters from Dresden might not be part of the standard electro-pop lexicon, but then the Pet Shop Boys have always been adept at wrapping up high culture in synths and sunglasses. Their new single, Love etc, is an anti-materialistic anthem that lambasts the jet-set for equating art with status. It’s not an attack on Richter, though; in fact his Cologne Cathedral stained glass design is similar to the cover art for the new album. The Times

x Love etc is certainly a promising first card to play – a hook-stuffed but understated Xenomania co-creation with a fascinatingly peculiar, call-and-response chorus. Music Week

x Even the most devout of Pet-heads had surely given up hope of them ever again releasing songs as wondrously perfect as, say, "Love Comes Quickly", "Left To My Own Devices" or "So Hard", but "LOVE ETC" is so close as to make you break down in tears of gratitude. Xenomania help out with a tingling, minimalist synth line, but it's Neil Tennant's ravishing melody and the ingenious chorus (as sleek and subtle as any call and response chorus could possibly be) that make this so utterly gorgeous. Yahoo! Music

x It is plucky and weird. A grower. Love etc. begins with a gorgeous climbing vocal on the intro. How does this man sound so crystalline 25 years on? Does he keep a rotting portrait in the attic? The chanted don't have to be chorus - the "A" chorus - is a surprise. It's like Girls Aloud did the verses and handed their footballer boyfriends the mics for the chorus. The "B' chorus, where the shouting hooligans drop out, is beautiful in a Loving Kind fashion. You need more gets repeated over and over - a sticky hook.
The details in the song are typically lush: Listen for the brief-but-grand string line at 1:31 - it starts repeating at that point. Listen for the little bubbles of synth at 1:52. Listen for the cynical outro: (don't have to be) beautiful but it helps. Lovely Phil noted that lyrically this is a bit anachronistic. Right now, today, the world is not about a "life of power and wealth." Minor quibble.I don't think it's a "hit" single, but will sound brilliant on a career retrospective. I admire their willingness to take to the best of Xenomania and mix it with their own style. This song is a beautiful culture clash: the rough trade mixing with the pretty, delicate ones. XO's Middle Eight

x "Love, Etc." is more instant and more engaging than anything the Boys have put out in years; it simply requires to be played on repeat. As for the melody, it's something like if the navy boys from "Go West" gathered together for a reunion, got a bit gloomy while discussing the dire state of the economy, popped in Confessions on a Dancefloor, and just started chanting in unison, fists on high. MuuMuse

x (...) it's a very unexpected sort of song and the first time you hear it you probably won't know what to make of what you're hearing. Despite a big and very clear chorus it's the first Pet Shop Boys single in ages that takes a few listens before it clicks but, in classic Xenomania fashion, when you do get your ahead around it the whole thing sounds totally sensible. Popjustice

x There were rumors that the group were going to go for a radically different sound for this album, but "Love etc." makes it apparent that Xenomania were drawn to the Pet Shop Boys because they love the group's classic material; the track sounds like a cross between "Love Comes Quickly" and "Left To My Own Devices" and employs the band's more observational lyrical style. Somehow I doubt this particular song is going to smash on to the British singles chart or introduce the group to a new fanbase, but it's an enjoyable listen. Idolator

x The Xenomania co-written/produced "Love, etc." is totally the Boys' "Can You Forgive Her?" of this decade. When that dark, plodding jam came out in summer 1993, it was so unlike anything they'd ever done before that you didn't quite know how to take it right away. (...)
If 2006's Fundamental and, in particular, its lead single "I'm With Stupid" was a last nod to the PSBs 1980s heyday, then "Love, etc." is a yet another offshoot into a cooler, more bold direction.
I really dig the unconventional way the second verse is sung on the off-notes, unlike the more traditionally-structured first verse.
In some regards, "Love, etc." almost reminds me of the duo's extremely moody Very-era b-sides "Some Speculation" and "Euroboy," particularly with the angry-sounding "You need more, you need more" refrain.
It's also odd to hear Neil Tennant singing about Hollywood and Beverly Hills, rather than London. It seems it's a whole new Pet Shop Boys. chart rigger

x As is so often the case with PSB singles, especially the first one from a new album, it is slightly baffling but incredibly fun. A call-and-response chant between Neil and what sounds like tough working class boys. Neil tells a story about love, money, fame, success, and failure. What does it take to have love these days? His lyrics prove wickedly amusing as he tells you what you don't need. (...)
It still manages the impressive feat of sounding like Pet Shop Boys without sounding like any other Pet Shop Boy song. Burned Fingers

x If I had to find a comparison-point, I'd say Very's classic hit "Can You Forgive Her?". Both the old song and this new song have a similar tempo and rhythm, plus they both open their respective albums. That's where the similarities end though. Love Etc is clearly influenced by what's going on in the world of pop today - it's slick and cool, and, uh, Girls Aloudy. Although with a heavy PSB vibe, and naturally it's Neil Tennant singing instead of some forgettable songbirds, but the Xenomania-influence is definitely showing up here. It's also hypnotic, groovy and has a quirky vibe to it that makes it quite a different beast and which definitely lends it its own flavour. It damn well does stick to your head though which makes it a rather nice choice of a single. The best part? The chorus-of-sorts with the call-and-answer shoutalong. Bloody brilliance that.
I'd say it's quite a sexy track but because this is Pet Shop Boys, I'll call it suave. Because that's what it is. indie paws

x It truly is their best single in a long long time for me personally. I have been let down with ye ol PSB over the last few years (...) and "Love Etc." totally makes up for it in my opinion. It kinda reminds me of The KLF a wee bit around the 2:10 mark with it's chanting and atmospheric sound. Neil's vocals shine as he sings about not needing the material things in life - we all just need a little bit of love, etc. electroqueer

x Readers of a certain age may recall that, around the time of the first Electronic collaboration, there was a general realisation that the Pet Shop Boys - then still the very essence of pop although the curtain was falling on their celebrated imperial phase - were in fact located at the exact midpoint between New Order and the Smiths. A tremendous place to be, certainly, and one the opener of their tenth album proper regularly deigns to revisit while tipping occasional nods to 'Can You Forgive Her?' (not insignificantly, the lead track from perhaps their most acclaimed work to date, the deathless 'Very) and, even amid a lyric that often, by their standards, skirts somewhat romantic territory, seems to have a pop at the oxygen-wasters that populate modern-day MTV. The Quietus

LINKS

x video on YouTube
x Wikipedia page