Nonetheless

Nonetheless was composed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant were isolated at their respective homes. At Lowe's suggestion, Tennant learned to program with GarageBand, and the duo sent songs back and forth to each other. Ford replaced the soft-synths with analog synthesizers, and every track has an orchestra "filling out the sound and bringing out the emotions in songs," according to Tennant. ==Release==

The album was released on 26 April 2024 in a variety of formats, including digitally, and physically on Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos, CD and multiple variants of coloured vinyl. The 2-CD and double white vinyl editions include a four-track EP titled Furthermore, featuring new recordings of "Heart", "Being Boring", "Always on My Mind" and "It's a Sin". On 22 November 2024, they released an expanded edition of Nonetheless with bonus tracks and demo versions of all the album tracks. Artwork The album cover photo (pictured), taken by Tim Walker, shows Lowe and Tennant, dressed in vintage black suits and white gloves, with light coming from their mouths. To achieve the effect, they held bicycle lights in their mouths. Tennant called the image simple and iconic, and suggested that it might say something about their music. The idea of using the lights came from Walker; Pet Shop Boys had proposed a basic concept of a formal portrait with blindfolds, and these were also taken during the photo session. Singles "Loneliness" debuted on 31 January 2024 as a preview of the album. It was the last song written for Nonetheless, inspired by the lockdown. Tennant described it as "an up sounding song with a lyric that starts off sad, but it turns around at the end." Alasdair McLellan directed the video, following a closeted young man leading a double life in 1992 Sheffield. Bonus tracks: "Party in the Blitz" and "Through You (extended mix)". The video, directed by Luke Halls Studio, includes historic footage of Nureyev dancing. The track has sounds of waves and seagulls from Lowe's original demo about the beach. Bonus tracks: "Sense of Time", "If Jesus Had a Sister", "Dancing Star" remixes by Solomun, and "Party in the Blitz" remix by Superchumbo. The video was filmed in Margate with cameos from Tracey Emin and Russell Tovey, The song had been offered to Brandon Flowers for his 2010 debut album; the reworked version on Nonetheless is about visiting a loved one in prison, inspired by a biography on George Blake. The remix artists are Boy Harsher, Richard X, and I. Jordan. Additional bonus tracks: "Beauty Has Laid Siege to the City" and "Clean Air Hybrid Electric Bus". A supplementary single of "All the Young Dudes" in a medley with "West End Girls", recorded with the Manchester Camerata, was released on 11 November, including an orchestral remix by Stuart Price. The medley had been performed with the Camerata at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards on 10 November. ==Reception==

Commercial performance Nonetheless debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, selling 22,419 units its first week. It is the Pet Shop Boys highest-charting album since the compilation album Alternative reached number two in 1995. In the U.S., Nonetheless was the first Pet Shop Boys studio album to fail to chart on the Billboard 200, although it reached number 14 on the Top Album Sales chart and number three on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Critical reception Nonetheless received a score of 81 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on ten critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim". Victoria Segal of Mojo wrote that the album "shows the duo pulling themselves up to full songwriting height, not just forging on, but flourishing". Mat Smith of Clash called Nonetheless "an utterly brilliant, dependably polished listen" and one of "the best moments" by the duo. Reviewing the album for NME, Gary Ryan described it as "peppered with richly-drawn characters, and esoteric cultural references" and a "lush, impressive collection that upholds their status as pop greats". The Independents Helen Brown felt that the album "maintains the band's strict quality control without any notable change in sonic style" but "proves that the Pets have still got the brains, still got the hooks". John Murphy of MusicOMH said that it "both sounds very like Pet Shop Boys while also managing to grow and evolve their sound" and observed "a huge streak of melancholy and reflection running through the record". Simon Heavisides of The Line of Best Fit concluded that Nonetheless "feels airy and welcoming" unlike the Pet Shop Boys' recent albums and "resonates emotionally in ways that befit elder statesmen who can look to the future while comfortably acknowledging the past". Year-end lists ==Track listing==

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Nonetheless and Nonetheless Expanded Edition. Pet Shop Boys Vocals, programming, keyboards, guitar • Chris Lowe • Neil Tennant Additional vocals • Abimbola Amoako-Gyampah • Senab Adekunle • Nile Bailey • Dawn Joseph (expanded edition tracks 1, 3) Orchestra Elysian Collective • Emma Smith – violin • Flora Curzon – violin • Freya Goldmark – violin • Ronald Long – violin • Anna de Bruin – violin • Kotono Sato – violin • Jennymay Logan – violin • Lucy Wilkins – violin • Hazel Correa – violin • Ros Stephen – violin • Patrick Dawkins – violin • Preetha Narayanan – violin (tracks 1–5, 7–9) • Simmy Singh – violin (tracks 6, 10) • Morgan Goff – viola • Alison De Souza – viola • Zami Jalil – viola • Amy May – viola • Laura Moody – cello • Sergio Serra – cello • Daisy Vatalaro – cello • Val Welbanks – cello • Serafina Steer – harp • Adam Chatterton – flugelhorn, trumpet • Graeme Flowers – flugelhorn, trumpet • David Hopkin – flugelhorn, trumpet • Richard Ashton – French horn • Carys Evans – French horn • Joseph Ryan – French horn • Jon Stokes – trombone • Chris Augustine – trombone • Samuel Freeman – bass trombone • Barnaby Slade – tuba Technical • James Ford – production, mixing, engineering (all tracks); orchestral arrangement; brass arrangement; additional programming, keyboards, guitars, percussion, drums, flute • Matt Colton – mastering (Nonetheless) • Andy Baldwin - mastering (Furthermore) • Pete Gleadall – additional engineering (Nonetheless); mixing (Furthermore) • Jeremy Murphy – orchestral engineering • Luke Pickering – orchestral engineering • Animesh Raval - orchestral engineering (expanded edition tracks 1, 3) • Ryan Jacob – brass arrangement, brass fixing, brass conductor • Richard Jones – orchestral arrangement, strings conductor, piano (expanded edition track 4) • Anne Dudley - orchestral arrangement and conducting (expanded edition tracks 1, 3) • Laura Moody – strings fixing • Jas Shaw – additional mixing Artwork • Tim Walker Studio – photography • Kate Phelan – stylist • Terry Barber – make-up • Farrow/PSB – design ==Charts==