Hotspot
Studio album by
Pet Shop Boys
Released24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)
Studio
GenreElectropop[1]
Length42:03
Labelx2
ProducerStuart Price
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Inner Sanctum
(2019)		 Hotspot
(2020)		 Discovery: Live in Rio 1994
(2021)
Singles from Hotspot
  1. "Dreamland"
    Released: 25 October 2019
  2. "Burning the Heather"
    Released: 13 December 2019
  3. "Monkey Business"
    Released: 7 February 2020
  4. "I Don't Wanna"
    Released: 24 April 2020

Hotspot is the fourteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 24 January 2020 by the band's own label x2, through Kobalt Label Services.[2] It is supported by the singles "Dreamland" featuring Years & Years, which was released on 25 October 2019, and "Burning the Heather", which was released alongside the album announcement on 13 December 2019.[3] The duo planned to tour the UK and Europe in support of the album in mid-2020.[2] The album charted in numerous countries, reaching No. 3 on the album charts in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.

Background and recording

The album was primarily recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin where the duo have written "most of [their] music over the last ten years",[4] with the exception of "Burning the Heather", which was recorded at RAK Studios in London, where Bernard Butler contributed guitar to the track. The duo's website dubbed it the last of a trilogy of albums produced by Stuart Price, beginning with Electric in 2013. All tracks were written by Tennant and Lowe.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
And It Don't Stop(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[8]
Clash8/10[9]
The Daily Telegraph[10]
The Independent[11]
NME[12]
Paste6.8/10[13]
Pitchfork6.1/10[14]
The Quietus3/5[15]
Tom Hull – on the Web(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[1]

Hotspot was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 out of 100, based on 18 reviews.[6]

In his Substack-published "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau highlighted "I Don't Wanna", "Wedding in Berlin", and "Will-o-the-Wisp", and wrote in summary of the album: "'Happy people/Living in a sad world,' they celebrate their good fortune by setting it to music both stirring and contained – music that never conceals its limitations".[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe aside from "Dreamland" which was written by Tennant, Lowe and Olly Alexander and "Monkey Business" which was written by Tennant, Lowe and Stuart Price

Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."Will-o-the-Wisp"4:28
2."You Are the One"3:35
3."Happy People"3:51
4."Dreamland" (featuring Years & Years)3:26
5."Hoping for a Miracle"5:00
6."I Don't Wanna"4:02
7."Monkey Business"4:08
8."Only the Dark"3:38
9."Burning the Heather"5:27
10."Wedding in Berlin"4:42
Total length:42:16
Japan bonus tracks[16]
No.TitleLength
11."Dreamland" (TWD vocal remix)5:06
12."Monkey Business" (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)8:45
Total length:56:13
Special edition disc 2
No.TitleLength
1."Will-o-the-Wisp" (instrumental)4:28
2."You Are the One" (instrumental)3:35
3."Happy People" (instrumental)3:51
4."Dreamland" (featuring Years & Years) (instrumental)3:26
5."Hoping for a Miracle" (instrumental)5:00
6."I Don't Wanna" (instrumental)4:02
7."Monkey Business" (instrumental)4:08
8."Only the Dark" (instrumental)3:38
9."Burning the Heather" (instrumental)5:27
10."Wedding in Berlin" (instrumental)4:42
Total length:42:16

Personnel

Additional musicians
  • Years & Years – featured artist ("Dreamland")
  • Stuart Price – bass guitar, additional programming
  • Bernard Butler – guitar ("Burning the Heather")
  • Keely Hawkes – additional vocals ("Monkey Business")
Technical
  • Stuart Price – production, mixing
  • Pete Gleadall – additional engineering
  • Nanni Johansson – engineer (Hansa)
  • Max Wittig – assistant engineer (Hansa)
  • Frida Claeson Johansson – assistant engineer (Hansa)
  • Andrew Keller – assistant engineer (Record Plant)
  • Isabel Gracefield – engineer (RAK)
  • Dan Ewins – assistant engineer (RAK)
  • Tim Young – mastering
  • Farrow – design, art direction
  • Pet Shop Boys – design, art direction, photography

Charts

Chart performance for Hotspot
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 8
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 5
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] 61
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[22] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 30
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24] 23
French Albums (SNEP)[25] 72
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 3
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[27] 35
Irish Albums (OCC)[28] 20
Italian Albums (FIMI)[29] 44
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[30] 52
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[31] 39
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[32] 31
Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 6
UK Albums (OCC)[37] 3
US Billboard 200[38] 100
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[39] 1

References

  1. 1 2 Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Music Tracking 2020". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 Zemler, Emily (14 November 2019). "Pet Shop Boys Preview New Album 'Hotspot' With 'Burning the Heather'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  3. ↑ Monroe, Jazz (14 November 2019). "Pet Shop Boys Announce New Album Hotspot, Share New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. ↑ Reilly, Nick (14 November 2019). "Pet Shop Boys announce new album 'Hotspot'". NME. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "New album "Hotspot"". petshopboys.co.uk. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Hotspot by Pet Shop Boys Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  7. ↑ Monger, Timothy. "Hotspot – Pet Shop Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  8. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (11 March 2020). "Consumer Guide: March, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Young, Martin (24 January 2020). "Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Clash. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  10. ↑ McCormick, Neil (23 January 2020). "Pet Shop Boys, Hotspot, review: irresistible dancefloor belters". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  11. ↑ O'Connor, Roisin (24 January 2020). "Album reviews: Pet Shop Boys – 'Hotspot', and Gengahr – 'Sanctuary'". The Independent. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  12. ↑ Ryan, Gary (24 January 2020). "Pet Shop Boys – 'Hotspot' review: astutely observed social commentary in the form of absolute mega bangers". NME. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  13. ↑ Ham, Robert (23 January 2020). "Pet Shop Boys Hit Career Highs and Lows on Hotspot". Paste. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Soto, Alfred (30 January 2020). "Pet Shop Boys: Hotspot Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  15. ↑ Choate, Canada (23 January 2020). "One More Time Without Feeling: The Pet Shop Boys' Hotspot". The Quietus. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  16. ↑ "「ホットスポット」- ペット・ショップ・ボーイズ". Sony Music Japan. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  22. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 05.Týden 2020 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  23. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  24. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys: Hotspot" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  25. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  26. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  27. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2020. 7. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  28. ↑ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  29. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  30. ↑ "ペット・ショップ・ボーイズ". Oricon. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  31. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  32. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  33. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  34. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  35. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  36. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  37. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  38. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  39. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
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