West End Thrills: Why nobody does poker-faced pop better than The Pet Shop Boys

Deadpan, yes. But soulless? Absolutely not. Scratch that droll exterior, and underneath, the Pet Shop Boys are still one of the most joyously complex acts of all time. As they release their new single ‘Loneliness’, Ed Power pays tribute to 45 years of deadpan pop genius

We think of the Pet Shop Boys as pop’s arch-ironists (Getty)

The song that changed everything for the Pet Shop Boys was not “West End Girls”, their 1985 number one and a track widely considered one of the greatest British singles ever. The most important four minutes, four seconds of their career would arrive 11 months later with their second big hit, “Suburbia” – a spectacular dirge that cradles Neil Tennant’s vocals in crystalline synths and a chorus of sampled dog barks.

“Suburbia” trumps “West End Girls” because, by the duo’s own telling, it saved Tennant and musical foil Chris Lowe from the humiliation of one hit wonder-dom (one-and-a-half hits if counting their stalled “West End Girls” follow-up “Love Comes Quickly”, which peaked at 19 and then nosedived). In so doing, it set the foundations for one of the most glittering journeys in pop. It is a glorious procession that continues this year with a beautifully plaintive new single, “Loneliness”, and an accompanying album, Nonetheless, arriving 26 April. Judging by that taster release, the LP will again shine a spotlight on an under-appreciated side of the Pet Shop Boys – which is that, beyond the irony, they are among the most heartfelt writers in pop and that this is the true theme of their 40 years in the public eye.

“We were on a classic trajectory,” Tennant told Classic Pop magazine of those early years. “Our first single: No 1 everywhere around the world. Next single: No 19 in the UK. Now, the logical trajectory is that the next record goes to 29, the one after doesn’t make the Top 50, and then you’re dropped.”