Working together for the first time since the 1988 single "Left to My Own Devices,"
the Pet Shop Boys and producer
Trevor Horn partner together for
Fundamental, an extremely well-crafted effort that is more of its time message-wise than any previous
PSB album.
Fundamental is heavily influenced by
Tony Blair's allegiance to
George W. Bush and his dragging of the U.K. into the Iraq War, which has left previously Labour Party-loving vocalist
Neil Tennant bitter and disillusioned. Fully aware that
the Pet Shop Boys would sound ridiculous if angry and punkish,
Tennant and partner
Chris Lowe show restraint, putting their venom on simmer on the most riveting songs and searching for a reason not to stick their head in the sand elsewhere. Surprisingly, the usually extravagant
Horn follows suit, and while he gives the album a very modern, slick sheen, the production is well designed instead of gloriously decorated. Beautifully polished by
Horn, "Luna Park" lazily strolls through a holiday where fortune tellers and fire breathers divert attention from the slowly developing storm. Giving up hope entirely is "Numb," an insular ballad that songwriter
Diane Warren originally gave to the duo for the hits collection
PopArt that's much more at home here. Better still is infectious and uptempo "I'm with Stupid," which casts
Blair and
Bush as irresponsible lovers who grin and pose while having their way with the world. It's not the only instantly gripping track -- the paranoid "Integral" speaks out for personal freedom with a wicked hook while the
New Order-esque "Minimal" ranks with their best club cuts -- but the majority of
Fundamental is like the majority of their great album
Behavior in that repeat listens are required to do these rich songs justice. For
Pet Shop Boys fans who lean to the left and are skeptical about the future, this is as close to heaven as they want to be. [In 2017,
Rhino began a campaign of reissues of the band's albums, expanding their initial release with an exhaustive selection of rarities recorded between 2005 and 2007. The expanded
Fundamental contains detailed liner notes and a second disc filled with demos. There are songs written for
Sondre Lerche (the very
Fleetwood Mac circa-
Tango in the Night sounding "Dancing in the Dusk,")
Shirley Bassey ("The Performance of My Life,")
Bananarama ("One Way Street,") and
Kylie Minogue ("One Night,") as well as one ("Ring Road") given to the
PSB tribute band
West End Girls. To go along with these unearthed gems are remixes (
Richard X's extended mix of "Fugitive," a single mix of "Numb,") a few ringtones the duo whipped up for fun, demos of tracks that later appeared on the album proper and a handful of B-sides. The collection is a handy companion to the album and the overall strength of the songs shows the band were firing on all cylinders during this era.] ~ David Jeffries & Tim Sendra
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