Veteran British synth pop duo Pet Shop Boys are back with the slow-building, thumping house song Inner Sanctum, ahead of the group’s thirteenth LP, Super. The group described the song as a “classic PSB anthem which evokes the London club scene of the early ’90s,” as reported by PopCrush.
Inner Sanctum begins with an icy, minimalist vibe that gives way to a pulsating bass, followed by Neil Tennant’s eerie voice. “In the inner sanctum, you’re a star,” sings the frontman. “The girls, the guys, they all know who you are.” That two line refrain turns out to be the only lyrics in the song, which eventually builds into an all-encompassing techno climax.
The duo of Tennant and Chris Lowe wrote the songs for Super between Berlin and London, from November 2014 to July 2015, according to band’s promotion materials for the record. They would go to their “little studio” in Berlin for two to three week periods to write. Tennant noted that their time in Berlin helped make clubby sort of songs like Inner Sanctum. “It’s very expansive, the sound of it and of course it’s an EDM idea, ‘Inner sanctum.’ We’ve been to clubs in Las Vegas and you think, oh, this is the inner sanctum — this is where you’re drinking champagne with the DJ.”
Pet Shop Boys, who initially made a name for themselves in the ‘80s with forward-thinking electro-laced pop, last released a record in 2013 called Electric. The group, best known for the chart-topping single West End Girls, has sold more than 100 million records over its career according to the Guardian.
Pet Shop Boys will release the 11 track full-length LP Super on April 1. Stuart Price, who has worked with Madonna and Kylie Minogue, mixed and produced the record.
The group also has a four-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall planned for July 20 to 23.
