LONDON (AP) — Chicken Kiev, AI-generated press releases and the annoyance of fan selfies while performing — there was a lot on the minds of the Pet Shop Boys as the iconic British duo prepared to release a new album. Their 15th studio album, “Nonetheless,” comes Friday — 40 years (and 50 million record sales) after Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe rose to fame with the single “West End Girls.” Bands of any longevity — especially such a long one — are often asked the cliche: “How do you stay relevant?” For them, it’s about never trying to be cool. “That’s something a lot of people try and do, to be somehow cool, which is therefore completely uncool, because it’s trying too hard,” Tennant told The Associated Press recently. “So we have just followed our own instincts.” “We’ll always be relevant in our world,” Lowe added, laughing. A testament of that relevance? Classic Pet Shop Boys hits were used as plot points in two cult movies last year: a karaoke scene in “Saltburn” featuring “Rent” and a key Christmas scene in “All of Us Strangers” soundtracked by “Always on My Mind.” |
As Ben Affleck's daughter comes out as 'Fin', why are so many AUkraine starts building 2 modern units at Khmelnytskyi nuclear plantIlhan Omar's activist daughter Isra Hirsi is suspended from Barnard College over antiStock market today: Japan’s Nikkei leads Asian market retreat as Middle East tensions flareOld mill where nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty is said to have originated could be yours for £650,000Soldiers who lost limbs in Gaza fighting are finding healing on Israel's amputee soccer teamNow Meghan's AIran's missile, drone program among targets of upcoming U.S. sanctions: White HouseOlympic sports bodies criticize track and field's move to pay $50,000 for Paris gold medalistsTragic French toddler Emile Soleil may have been eaten by WOLVES: Shock claim after two