Electropop slicker than Minimal, the second single from Pet Shop Boys' strongest album in a decade, Fundamental, is hard to imagine. Will it chart? It should do, but just maybe this archetypal chart act don't need the singles chart these days.
And to suggest Neil and Chris have merely returned to their mid-'80s heyday would be to ignore the grandiose orchestral sweep of the song's end. The chorus vocoder does remind of Kraftwerk, but the rest of the production is several dance steps removed from the minimalism of the Dusseldorf legends. There's even a guitar sound that references New Order in amongst all the effortless intricacy.
This fuller sound, also evidenced elsewhere on Fundamental (Casanova In Hell), suggests the duo's foray into soundtracks with Battleship Potemkin has made them, with producer Trevor Horn, consider sonic possibilities beyond the minimal of the title. The lyrics make no sense at all, so just dance.
