Pet Shop Boys, Agenda, EP Review
Pet Shop Boys
Agenda
EP Review
80's synth-pop legends Pet Shop Boys need very little introduction. And despite their most recent full album "Super" being released way back in 2016, we were treated to a small helping of newer material with this latest EP.
Despite having a stingy ration of only four tracks and a runtime of only 13 minutes, the sheer quality of the majority of songs were enough to make me interested. There is a somewhat solid theme targeting very relevant social issues in modern day society and I would go as far to say that it is a very political piece with a great dose of satire. This modern focus juxtaposes nicely with a very retro synth-pop aesthetic that stays true to the golden years of Pet Shop Boys.
As this is an EP and not an album, I feel that it is excusable to go through this thing track by track as it won't bulk up the review unnecessarily.
The first of these tracks really gives the rundown of the theme. Titled "Give stupidity a chance", it addresses the foolish nature of our world leaders, as well as an overall obliviousness to the issues of the world amongst a societal majority. It pretty much confirms that this EP is really going to make the listener think quite hard. And that's all good in my book.
Following up from this is my favourite track from the EP "On social media". As well as being an equally satirical track in its lyrics to the prior number, it's an absolute synth-pop banger! I love just how campy it sounds and I think that it does really well at creating this synthetic sense of wonder that social media actually portrays in real life. In my mind, this is an absolute work of art.
Things unfortunately go a bit sideways from here as the third track "What are we going to do about the rich?" feels noticeably more lifeless than the previous two tracks. I understand why they would want to make a song about the economical issues our society has on this EP, but for me it is easy to spot that a lot less effort was put into this song. There's hardly anything about it that makes it any more than your stale, run-of-the-mill pop tune. The only part of this track that I would praise is its bridge, which I admit did keep me satisfied for a short while.
While not as bad as "What are we going to do about the rich?", the EP's closing single "The forgotten child" is ironically, a bit forgettable. It did make sense to put this track last on the EP as its lengthier, downbeat and more melancholy composition gave it a good sense of conclusion and instrumentally its not bad. I just wouldn't choose it over either track in the first half of the EP and at a stretch, I don't feel like this song fitted very well with the Pet Shop Boys aesthetic. It sounded more like something that Gary Barlow would sing. The main praise-worthy factor for this track is that it probably has the least obvious context as to what it could be addressing. It requires more creative thought to figure out the meaning thanks to the more poetic lyrics.
All in all, I really wish this could've been an album (it has been a long time coming). But a little bit of music is certainly better than no music at all and I am glad that Pet Shop Boys have displayed that their hearts still lie in music.
Thank you for reading.
Booth Boy
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