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History

April 2023

On April 14, a new Pet Shop Boys’ EP, Lost, is released digitally and as part of the latest edition of the Pet Shop Boys periodical, Annually 2023. Lost was planned as a four track EP of songs that were originally demoed in 2015 for Super though now, in some cases, seemly newly relevant. Its title — taken from the first song, “The lost room”, inspired by a film about military school bullying and written in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Crimea — “also seems,” says Neil, “to represent a sort of larger, philosophical or political point, where there’ve been times recently where the world feels a bit lost in terms of the direction it’s going in.” This sense is further amplified by the last-minute addition of a fifth song, a more recent composition “Living in the past”, which the Pet Shop Boys had posted on social media two months earlier in rough demo form, accompanied by a video in which Vladimir Putin appeared to shapeshift into Joseph Stalin. 

Lost

June 2023

On June 16, a new Pet Shop Boys compilation, Smash, presenting 55 Pet Shop Boys’ singles from the years 1985 to 2020 in chronological order, is released. The title was Chris’s. “I was thinking of the artist Roy Lichtenstein,” says Chris. “It seemed very Roy Lichtenstein: Pow! Wham! Smash! And there’s also, ‘It’s a smash!’ – that’s what people used to say about singles. Also, there is the connection with Neil and Smash Hits.” Its sleeve is a combined, distorted version of previous Pet Shop Boys’ sleeves. “Listening through, I felt quite proud of the whole thing,” says Neil. “This astonishing number of singles over such long period of time. And I think the last CD is really good. You sort of imagine a moment where you might think, ‘this is all a bit dodgy now’, but in my opinion that doesn’t happen.” 

SMASH – The Singles 1985-2020

On this day

1989

The Boys perform the last of three consecutive nights’ shows at Budokan, Tokyo.

2002

The U.K. leg of the Release Tour begins at Brixton Academy in London.

2011

They continue work on ‘Give It a Go’ as well as ‘Shouting in the Evening.’

2013

Chris and Neil appear as guests on this evening’s Dance Years program hosted by David Pearce on BBC Radio 2. They talk about making their new album Electric, new artists they like, and specific artists who have influenced them through the years.

2017

Back in the U.K. following roughly two weeks on the Continent, they perform this evening at the Henley Music Festival.

2018

The Summer 2018 leg of the Pet Shop Boys’ extended Super Tour kicks off with their show tonight in Tallinn, Estonia.

2022

Following a break in their Dreamworld Tour of nearly a full week, the Pet Shop Boys perform in Budapest, Hungary.

2024

They perform at Berlin’s Mercedes Benz Arena.