[Introspective] (behind the times) 'Release' review from BMG

[Derek B Donnell]

Neil Tennant has, quite possibly, one of the most double-edged vocal
presences of any frontman in modern music. While his vocals sound just about
the same on nearly everything in the Pet Shop Boys' catalog, they can
simultaneously express the darkest, loneliest sorrow and the most dry,
acerbic wit. So with Tennant's reliability, the usual wild card, as always,
becomes whatever musical backdrop the Boys plan to utilize. On Release,
there's a smattering of just about everything the duo's dabbled in before,
with languid, radio-friendly slow burners being the most poignant addition.
Undeniably, all of the duo's best assets come into play on "The Night I Fell
in Love," so much so that you can almost hear the singer's vocals on the
verge of crackling into joyous laughter. Over a soothing blend of guitars
and synthesized beats, a character voiced by Tennant has a first-person
encounter with a certain rapper backstage at a concert and falls in love.
"You want to see some more," says the rapper. "You can have a private
performance." Then later, the narrator says, "He said we could be secret
lovers, just him and me. Then he joked, 'Hey man, your name isn't Stan, is
it?'" It's about time someone stooped to that level to poke fun at that
certain someone, and Tennant's more than up to the task.

Elsewhere, the Boys unleash some of their most sublime and accessible
material in years. The opener, "Home and Dry," has a subdued and digital
Fleetwood Mac vibe (of the mid-'80s "Everywhere" ilk) and straightforwardly
expresses longing for a lover across the sea; "I Get Along" strolls along
with an Oasis-like swagger (i.e., "Don't Look Back in Anger"); and "London"
has a pinch of that acoustic/electronic blend that typifies older Everything
but the Girl material. Add in the Orbital-esque electronics of "The Samurai
in Autumn" and the soaring synth work on "Home," and you've easily got one
of the more entertaining, if not a bit disjointed, records of the Pet Shop
Boys' career.

Peter Gaston
BMG Associate Editor