On April 22, the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven is performed in London for the first time in fourteen years, in a sold-out month-long run at The Union Theatre. (It will return for a further five weeks beginning on October 21.). For this revival, at the Pet Shop Boys’ request, the musical’s original final number, “Positive role model”, is replaced by “Vocal”.
On August 15, the final date of the much-extended Electric tour – which began in March, 2013 – takes place at the Flow Festival in Helsinki. The tour has visited over forty countries.
On December 2, the Pet Shop Boys appear at MAMA – the Mnet Asian Music Awards – in Hong Kong. They are given the Worldwide Inspiration award and play a lengthy live medley, joined for their final two songs, “What have I done to deserve this?” and “Vocal”, by the K‑Pop artist f(x). At the organisers’ request, they wear the Electric tour straw jackets for, possibly, the final time.
The Pet Shop Boys perform ‘You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk’ on Top of the Pops.
A video created by artist Wolfgang Tilmans for ‘Home and Dry’ debuts, focusing on mice filmed in the London subway. Originally it didn’t feature Neil and Chris at all, but they were later inserted for brief appearances.
The Boys are currently in Los Angeles working on their next album (as yet untitled) with the up-and-coming producer/engineer Andrew Dawson.
Drawing upon an old instrumental track Chris had composed a couple of years before, the Boys (who are currently in Berlin) begin writing ‘The Pop Kids.’
A mysterious week-long ‘What Is Super?’ promotional campaign begins with YouTube ads, a dedicated website, and posters in several European cities. (It will lead, seven days from now, to the announcement that the Pet Shop Boys’ new album, due April 1, will be titled Super.)
The Pet Shop Boys’ official website announces that they have donated a complete set of signed Catalogue: 1985–2012 vinyl albums and a signed limited edition of Neil’s book One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem for a charity auction benefitting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.