Hotspot - Forum Reactions.

[Effen Vida]

I’ve gone from being utterly apathetic towards Dreamland to really loving it. My 12”, which I bought on the day of release, remained shrink-wrapped until a couple of days ago. What a turn around.
I’ve begun to really, really like Wedding in Berlin, too. So strange how that can happen. It now feels like a tie-loosener after feeling buttoned up for the previous 9 tracks; it’s a relief song where the album kicks its shoes off and says ‘pretty great that, wasn’t it? Let’s go daft’.

It’s late and I don’t know what I’m talking about. That’s just the way I roll, baby.


P.S Here are the lyrics for the spoken word section at the end of Hoping for a miracle:

It’s been this way
since life began
The child lives on
inside the man
You have to eat
You need to sleep
You sometimes feel
you’re in too deep

(Taken from PSB’s official YouTube channel, where that assures to have uploaded the entire album, with lyrics).

[ZiggyPSB]

I give my thumbs up for Wedding in Berlin, after just one listen too.

[East End Bhoy]

I give my thumbs up for Wedding in Berlin, after just one listen too.

yay! We're the Wedding in Berlin appreciation society

[MikeyC]

I wrote some thoughts earlier as I’m currently immersed in Hotspot, but my post seemingly disappeared!!

Blown away by the opener, Will-o-the-wisp!! So dramatic, intense, and those synths!! Wow!!

And really enjoying Wedding in Berlin which is quite “WTF???” in a bizarre yet fun way!!

[Mark R.Y.]

I'm in Seattle so it won't be for another 20-27 hours until I receive my CD from Amazon. I've so far listened only to the three singles, leaving the remaining seven tracks to be fresh listening experiences tomorrow. But I see that (because it's the 24th elsewhere in the world) the PSB channel has uploaded all the tracks onto YouTube. I couldn't resist listening to Will o the Wisp. A real thrill of a track - their best album opener since the 1990s, imo their consistently finest decade.

So now I'm torn. Do I wait until tomorrow to listen to the album properly on my stereo speakers or go ahead and listen to the rest now on YouTube? Or just listen to only one more track? Or two...or three....augh! "I wanna" hear it all now, but I want to hear it properly sequenced on my "good" speakers for my first listen. What a sweet dilemma.

[madsnielsen]

It’s been this way
since life began
The child lives on
inside the man
You have to eat
You need to sleep
You sometimes feel
you’re in too deep

(Taken from PSB’s official YouTube channel, where that assures to have uploaded the entire album, with lyrics).

Wow thanks for the head up. I have been searching the official page for these.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Do I wait until tomorrow to listen to the album properly on my stereo speakers or go ahead and listen to the rest now on YouTube? Or just listen to only one more track? Or two...or three....augh! "I wanna" hear it all now, but I want to hear it properly sequenced on my "good" speakers for my first listen. What a sweet dilemma.

At least do it on Spotify... likely to be less compressed.

Retro.

[Mark R.Y.]

Greetings,

Do I wait until tomorrow to listen to the album properly on my stereo speakers or go ahead and listen to the rest now on YouTube? Or just listen to only one more track? Or two...or three....augh! "I wanna" hear it all now, but I want to hear it properly sequenced on my "good" speakers for my first listen. What a sweet dilemma.

At least do it on Spotify... likely to be less compressed.

Retro.

Good point. That's where I listened to Super four years ago the day before I got that album!

[ZiggyPSB]

I didn't know what to expect with Wedding in Berlin. I thought it might be something low key like David Bowie's "The Wedding Song" that closed his Black Tie White Noise album. This one is bouncing along. The weird church bell noises heard at the start and end of the track (and at the end of Happy people too), lol K-Hole 2 point 0.

[Jamesqdot]

Neil, if you read this (and want another megahit), listen to me:

Record It's a sin (2020 version), speed it up to at least 200bpm, copy the Gangnam Style video and it will be a global smash hit, especially amongst the young people. This will set the streaming charts on fire. And don't forget to make it as anthemic as possible. You're welcome.

Tenlow, I just wanted to chime and say: you win the Pet Shop Boys internet. Forever.

[glennjridge]

Surprisingly the title I hated the most "Wilo the wisp" has turned into one of my favorite all time PSB album openers. its huge and epic with multiple parts where it almost sounds like a play with a first second and third act.

Happy people sounds like very/Bilingual awesomeness.
I also am enjoying "I dont wanna"


one problem...

the good ballads such as "only the dark"..and "you are the one"....THEY DONT BUILD musically or vocally. if you heard the first chorus...you've heard the second and the third. why neil didnt add vocal counter melodies or tag lines is beyond me...at least beef up the orchestration. they just stay the course. they dont ADD things.

one other thing, while I also am not on board with "wedding in berlin" as it has that monotonous backing track....it inexplicably lightens up....and becomes beautiful when they drop that repeating synth riff and the warm strings come in with neil singing.
why couldnt THAT...segment be the basis of song I will always wonder. its actually quite beautiful.

anyways...I will have to spend more time with this and see where I'm, at. I find I am liking the sound...of the album more than the songs..of the album.

[Jamesqdot]

Blimey... Wedding in Berlin is a bit strange isn't it?

Also, I'm enjoying Dreamland a lot more in the context of the rest of the album. It still sounds more like an album track to me and not a single, which is probably why.

Still have no time for Monkey Business though. It's their latest New York City Boy for me.

They also wrote another song that basically sums me up: I dont' wanna... damn them. That's going to be on miserablism rotation for a while.

[Jamesqdot]

Oh, and my god... Happy People is taking me back to the post-Behaviour PSB I used to love so much! What a joyous song, tinged with the dreaded "melancholy" (read introspection, over-thinking and double-meanings) I love them for. Why wasn't this an opening single?

[Mark R.Y.]

... the good ballads such as "only the dark"..and "you are the one"....THEY DONT BUILD musically or vocally. if you heard the first chorus...you've heard the second and the third. why neil didnt add vocal counter melodies or tag lines is beyond me...at least beef up the orchestration. they just stay the course. they dont ADD things.

one other thing, while I also am not on board with "wedding in berlin" as it has that monotonous backing track....it inexplicably lightens up....and becomes beautiful when they drop that repeating synth riff and the warm strings come in with neil singing.
why couldnt THAT...segment be the basis of song I will always wonder. its actually quite beautiful.

anyways...I will have to spend more time with this and see where I'm, at. I find I am liking the sound...of the album more than the songs..of the album.

The problem of the music in tracks not building and giving off surprises in their respective second halves is my one gripe as well. It was a huge problem for Elysium, but not so much in the Stuart Price era (Bolshy, for instance, is quite unpredictable and the music in Love is a Bourgeois Construct builds brilliantly.) So a slight disappointment re Hotspot where some of the melodies are a tad shy and there aren't a lot of musical surprises once you've heard the main motive, but only a slight complaint. I'm loving the cushioned and wobbly overall sound to many of these tracks. As much as I like the razor-blade harsh in-your-face sound of Electric, it's nice to have this resonant full soundscape here.

Re: Wedding in Berlin. It kind of sounds like a remix of a "proper" song, lol. And as a Mendelssohn enthusiast, I cringe every time the Midsummer Night's Dream march cuts off and suddenly returns to "monotonous backing track." Overall, though, this track isn't the cheese-fest other reviewers made it out to be!

[Mark R.Y.]

Hoping for a Miracle - another winner. (No, not another "Winner" - that would be Dreamland - but another sumptuous Hotspot track.)


I like how so many of these tracks have this deliberately distorted, hazy, "cushioned" sound. The blurred cover photo fits well with the dreamy sound. Is this album meant to be akin to an old LP finally dug out and dusted off? The retro-ness, the wonderful wobbly sound, the vinyl scratches at the end of Hoping for a Miracle....