Pet Shop Boys - Actually (2018 Remastered Version)

Pet Shop Boys' Actually is synth-pop at its most elegant and most cutting, here in its 2018 remastered version.

Released in 1987, the second album from Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe arrived with a raised eyebrow and a broken heart. It turned their dry wit and melancholy melodies into a commentary on late-Thatcher Britain, sharp enough to sting but polished enough to fill dance floors from London to New York.

It's a Sin is the grand centrepiece, a thundering drama of Catholic guilt and defiance that remains one of the boldest singles of the decade. What Have I Done to Deserve This? pairs the duo with Dusty Springfield, reviving her career in the process with a duet full of sophisticated longing. Rent turns a story of dependency into a tender, slow-dancing synth ballad, and Heart is pure, bright euphoria.

Lowe's keyboards shimmer and pulse with a cool precision, while Tennant's half-spoken, half-sung delivery sounds like a diary read aloud at a party. Underneath the gloss, songs like Shopping and King's Cross paint a picture of greed and quiet desperation.

This 2018 remaster gives those glossy productions a fresh polish, and it makes a strong case for Actually as the duo's finest hour. Decades later, it still sounds like the smartest person at the party.