Pet Shop Boys wax lyrical on Blair, Obama and Kylie

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Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys has criticised “gestural” politics, saying that comfort and convenience are what drives the political agenda.

In an interview with Attitude magazine and bandmate Chris Lowe, he compared Tony Blair and Barack Obama for their inclusivity, calling them “big tent” people.

He said: “There are many ways things have improved from a ‘gay’ angle. Things have improved immeasurably I guess since the 1960s and possibly since the 1990s. But a lot of that is a bit gestural as well.

“If you look round our society it is entirely based on convenience. What is part of the political agenda are these gestures giving the impression that ‘we’re really doing this for the environment’ and we’re not really. I honestly don’t believe we are doing anything.”

The pair also criticised the third runway at Heathrow, with Neil commenting: “I don’t think really people should be flying to Prague for a weekend break, for a weekend stag party.”

On their new album, to be released later this month, Neil said: “This album is so pop. It started off as songs for Kylie Minogue. Like every other songwriting team in London we were actually asked to write songs for Kylie two years ago when we were mid-tour. We wrote four or five songs for Kylie and then never really heard anything.

“In fact the idea of the song, it was written two years ago, is Kate Moss singing about Pete Doherty. There’s total chaos going on, that’s where I got the lyrical idea.”

The Pet Shop Boys’ tenth album, Yes, will be released on March 23rd.

For the full Pet Shop Boys interview, read Attitude magazine, out Wednesday 11th March or visit attitude.co.uk.

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