Pet Shop Boys today release the new track ‘Cricket wife’ plus ‘West End girls (lockdown version)’ in digital format. Listen to ‘Cricket wife’ below.

The dramatic new song – almost 10 minutes long – features orchestral sounds and was written by Chris as a classical-style instrumental piece; the lyrics, meanwhile, are taken from a poem Neil Tennant had written. Pete Gleadall mixed the final track.

The second track is a lockdown version of Pet Shop Boys classic ‘West End girls’, a completely new version of the classic song which debuted online in June 2020. Both tracks were recorded during the first lockdown last year, with Chris and Neil recording their parts in their respective homes.

Also released digitally for the first time today is the ‘My Beautiful Launderette’ EP – four pieces of incidental music and two songs written by Neil and Chris for the Leicester Curve stage version of the classic British film. The production, written by Hanif Kureishi, premiered in Leicester in September 2019 before touring other cities across the UK. Listen to the EP below.

‘Cricket wife’ and ‘West End girls (lockdown version)’ were previously only available as a two-track CD with this year’s edition of their regular hardback publication, Annually. The ‘My Beautiful Launderette’ EP was originally made available on CD only with the 2020 edition of Annually. For more information visit the Pet Shop Boys online store.