Pet Shop Boys Unveil ‘Electric’ Album Cover, Tracklist & “Axis” Video

Robbie Daw | April 30, 2013 4:42 am

Giorgio Moroder is everywhere these days, isn’t he? While the famed Grammy- and Oscar-winning producer of classic hits by Donna Summer, Blondie and David Bowie will appear on Daft Punk‘s upcoming LP Random Access Memories, his influence can be heard in various corners of electronic music — including “Axis,” the opening track on Pet Shop Boys‘ next album Electric.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe‘s official site was updated with new information about their Stuart Price-produced 12th album today, which now has a worldwide release date of July 15. (It will also be released through the duo’s new x2 — or “times two” — label through Kobalt Label Services.) The LP features nine songs altogether (eight originals and, interestingly, a cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s 2007 Magic track “Last To Die”), with UK artist Example featuring on the song “Thursday.” That’s right — a Pet Shop Boys song with a featured rapper.

So, about “Axis.” In addition to the album cover and tracklist, the Boys also premiered a neon light-saturated video clip for the number, and it features ritualistic dancing, a high-speed race through tunnels and city streets at night and what appears to be silhouettes of Neil and Chris lurking in the background. Watch below.

Of course, Neil and Chris always manage to put their own unique stamp on any of their recordings. But they’ve never shied away from citing Giorgio Moroder as an influence (see: Behaviour). And, we have to admit, in addition to Italo disco in general, “Axis” is giving us slight shades of Moroder’s Midnight Express theme “Chase.”

Pet Shop Boys — “Axis”

Electric tracklist

1. Axis 2. Bolshy 3. Love is a bourgeois construct 4. Fluorescent 5. Inside a dream 6. The last to die 7. Shouting in the evening 8. Thursday (featuring Example) 9. Vocal