Pet Shop Boys : ‘Did You See Me Coming?’
Released: 1st June 2009
Label: Parlophone
Pet Shop Boys’ new single, ‘Did you see me coming?’ is striking like a gemstone. It’s a soaring, energetic number about… well… not much, really. Pulling in a bar, I think. Whatever. But importantly, this is a gorgeous new single from the London duo’s tenth studio album. They’ve been a rock of British electronic pop music since ‘West End Girls’ topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1985, and ‘Did you see me coming?’ is a good reminder of just how catchy they are. Sure, the backing sounds like it could have been made any time during their career, but when that old timeless-melody trick is played this well, such criticism of its execution melts into whine.
Interestingly, though, this track is one of several on Yes in which writing credit is given to Xenomania. This is the song-writing/ production house who made Cher’s ‘Believe’, most of the Girls Aloud catalogue and myriad other hits. Not to cry foul play: hit factories have been a feature of commercial music since the days before sound recording, when popular songs were sold as sheet music for playing on parlour pianos. It’s just interesting that a group like Pet Shop Boys are now propped-up by a professional team. Why? Because Pet Shop Boys did much to sculpt this electronic pop musical style in the first place, which you can hear now in the instrumental backing of Girls Aloud tracks. Well, the influence of their older material is now feeding back via Xenomania’s commercial filter into their new material, and it leaves me wondering about the extent to which this release is a new lease of life or a calculated echo.
Don’t think too hard though, huh? ‘Did you see me coming?’ is still a glorious tour de force of pop perfection, and since it has no intention of being anything else, I think Xenomania should be thanked for their involvement.
Words: Christopher Cook
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