UK synthpop titans Pet Shop Boys have been steadily cranking out dryly euphoric music for decades, and they remain hugely relevant. Just in the past few months, PSB have been covered by Sally Shapiro, Sleaford Mods, TR/ST with Jake Shears, and Barry Keoghan in an implication-heavy Saltburn karaoke scene. Also, Drake interpolated their “West End Girls” on “All The Parties,” apparently without permission. This week, a Pet Shop Boys concert film is playing in theaters around the world, and now the duo has also announced a new album.

Nonetheless, the 15th Pet Shop Boys studio album, follows their 2020 LP Hotspot, and it’s their first album since returning to Parlophone, which was their label from 1985 to 2012. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe wrote the songs during lockdown, and they recorded it with producer James Ford, using an orchestra on every track.

“Loneliness,” the first single from Nonetheless, is all about social isolation, which would be a bit topic even without COVID lockdowns in the immediate rearview. It’s a lush, disco-indebted jam with a few grand orchestral crescendos. The NSFW-ish video, from director Alasdair McLellan, takes place in Sheffield in 1992, and it features a lot of absurdly good-looking young people. Below, check out the clip and the Nonetheless tracklist.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Loneliness”
02 “Feel”
03 “Why Am I Dancing?”
04 “New London Boys”
05 “Dancing Star”
06 “A New Bohemia”
07 “The Schlager Hit Parade”
08 “The Secret Of Happiness”
09 “Bullet For Narcissus”
10 “Love Is The Law”

Nonetheless is out 4/26 on Parlophone.