Influences: Heads We Dance On Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Actually’
It's not long before Leeds-based Heads We Dance release their debut album 'Love Technology' (it'll be out on 1st June), and each week in the lead up to the release they'll be providing us with a run down of the key albums to have influenced the record. First up, we've got Pet Shop Boys' 'Actually', which was released way back in 1987.
Posted 16th April 2009, 1:07pm in Features, by Heads We Dance
It's not long before Leeds-based Heads We Dance release their debut album 'Love Technology' (it'll be out on 1st June through This Is Fake DIY Records - pre-order it here), and each week in the lead up to the release they'll be providing us with a run down of the key albums to have influenced the record. First up, we've got Pet Shop Boys' 'Actually', which was released way back in 1987.Early Pet Shop Boys records are one of our biggest influences because of the way they mixed very melodic songs with the latest dance music production. Sure, some of it sounds dated now but we think it's better to be of your time rather than of sometime between 1968 and 1979 like a lot current indie bands seem to!
Their 1987 album 'Actually' is fantastic because it's got a bit of everything that's special about PSB. 'It's A Sin' is an amazingly brave and dramatic pop single - we stole the choir intro idea for our album track 'The Gold City'. 'What Have I Done To Deserve This' is pure 80s bubblegum but the male/female vocal interplay is great and influenced both our new single, 'When The Sirens Sound', and our cover of 'Computer Love'.
While 'Actually' sounds brilliant thanks to the crispness of the Fairlight programming and the production of Stephen Hague and Shep Pettibone, amongst others, the reason the record stands the test of time is the quality of the songwriting. I remember seeing Pet Shop Boys play at Glastonbury and one of the standout moments of the set was a really stripped back acoustic version of 'Rent'. When the songs are this strong, they can really work in any setting. It was certainly impressive watching PSB win over a field of stinking hippies with their urban sophistication!
The album is packed with classic singles, of which 'Heart' is a personal favourite, but it's the inclusion of album tracks like the haunting 'King's Cross' that makes this the essential PSB's album. Every record they ever release is said to be their best since 'Very' - and 'Yes' definitely has its moments - but that's still someway off this. Pop genius!
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