In 1999 Pet Shop Boys shared their seventh studio album Nightlife. The album featured many of the songs they were developing for their musical Closer to Heaven and saw them work with a wide variety of producers.
Much of the album was producer with Scottish composer Craig Armstrong who had created the memorable soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo and Juliet, but there were also contributions from NYC DJ David Morales, and Rollo from Faithless.
The album also included the song In Denial which was a collaboration with Kylie Minogue. The song about a father coming out as gay to his daughter was one of the songs that would later appear in their musical.
At the time Kylie Minogue did not have a record contact but shortly afterwards she’d sign to Parlophone, the same label as the Pet Shop Boys and make a huge comeback with Spinning Around.
The first single from the new record was I Don’t Know What You Want but I Can’t Give It Anymore. Released in July 1999 it came a few months before the album and showed the band in a new look which featured brightly coloured sigs and sunglasses.
Continuing the band’s love of working with different collaborators the single came with remixes from Felix da Housekat, Peter Rauhofer and Morales. There were also three non-album b-sides including the songs Silver Age, Screaming and a cover of Je t’aime… moi non plus written by Serge Gainsbourg.
While the song found success in the USA, United Kingdom and Europe, it failed to make a dent in the Australian charts only making it to number 67.
Singles from the band’s previous album Bilingual had performed much better with Before making it number 25 in the ARIA charts, and Se a vida é (That’s the Way Life Is) hitting number 9. While the album rose to the number 3 slot.
The second tack to be lifted on the album was the camp New York City Boy. The track samples Donna Summer’s recording of MacArthur Park and interpolates elements of Salsoul Orchestra’s It’s Good for the Soul.
Thunderpuss, Almighty, David Morales and Tom Stephans all contributed remixes. While the song made it into the UK charts and took out the top spot on the US Billboard Dance charts, Australian audiences appeared to have fallen out of love with the duo, the song placed a dismal 174 on the Australian charts.
The album’s third single has been proclaimed one of the Pet Shop Boys most emotive songs. You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk continued the band’s love for a long title and delivered a melancholy ode to a struggling relationship.
While the song was not a hit it’s been covered several times by other artists including a version from Splendid, a project from Frente singer Angie Hart.
One track that was not on the album was the title song Nightlife. The song would eventually appear as a b-side on the lead single from the bands next album and be added to the ‘Further Listening’ edition of the record that added b-sides and unreleased songs from the recording session.
The album got to number 25 on the Australian charts, and 25 years later it’s definitely worth having a relisten to this record.
While this was the band’s seventh album, they’re currently riding high with Nonetheless the fifteenth record in their album discography.
