‘Elysium’, originally released in 2012, was seen by some as a shift in sound and direction for Pet Shop Boys. Writing for the album began whilst PSB were on tour with Take That, with some tracks dating as far back as 2008.Â
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The album was co-produced by PSB with Andrew Dawson, who engineered much of Kanye West’s album ‘808s & Heartbreaks’, a record which Neil Tennant had become ‘mildly obsessed’ with at the time. The darker lyrical themes of ‘Elysium’ are reflected in the record’s sound. Neil Tennant said: ‘It is deep in terms of the sound—got a lot of sub-bass—it's sort of deep in terms of subject matter, the way it's expressed. But I think it's the Pet Shop Boys' most beautiful album.’ Â
The ‘Further listening’ album of additional material alongside this ‘Elysium’ reissue features previously unreleased demos entitled ‘Vocal’, ‘She pops’ and ‘In slow motion’, as well as PSB mixes and remixes of ‘Leaving’ and ‘Memory of the future’. Full track-listing for the reissue of ‘Elysium’ below:
