LISTEN: Pet Shop Boys' Beautiful New Album

Britpop band Pet Shop Boys have released their 11th studio album Elysium, a gorgeous collection of a dozen songs which display a warm, deep electronic sound.

During a recent interview with NPR, Tennant discusses the band's influence on gay culture. "Well I've always had a very ambivalent relationship with the idea of gay culture, because I think it's often been used to marginalize people," he says. "In the United States it was used to marginalize the Pet Shop Boys. For instance, we were briefly on Atlantic Records in the mid-90s, and all of the marketing was done by the gay marketing department. And I sort of resent the idea that being gay means you liked a certain kind of music, which maybe that includes the Pet Shop Boys."

In a joint statement about Elysium, the first they've recorded in the U.S., Lowe and Tennant say, “It was inspiring to make an album in Los Angeles, and to work with a producer from a different musical genre, who has brought a new dimension to our music.”

Elysium is on sale in the U.K. today and the U.S. tomorrow. Listen to the sampler below.