Elysium (2017 Remaster)
Pet Shop Boys
Elysium is the eleventh studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, originally released on September 5–11, 2012 via Parlophone — the last album the duo would make with the label for over a decade. Recorded earlier that year in Los Angeles, it was co-produced by Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, and Andrew Dawson, the Grammy-winning engineer behind Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak — an album Tennant described himself as "mildly obsessed" with at the time. That influence is audible in Elysium's deep, sub-bass-driven electronic sound, which is warmer and more contemplative than much of the duo's previous work. Orchestral arrangements by Joachim Horsley, Andrew Dawson, and Ben Leathers add texture throughout, and the twelve songs — including singles "Winner," "Leaving," and "Memory of the Future" — carry a reflective, autumnal quality that Tennant himself called their "most beautiful album."
The 2017 remaster arrived on October 20, 2017 as part of Parlophone's Catalogue: 1985–2012 reissue series, which saw all of the duo's Parlophone studio albums remastered and reissued with "Further Listening" companion discs. The standalone 2017 remaster presents the original twelve-track album in newly remastered audio, while the expanded Elysium: Further Listening 2011–2012 edition pairs it with a second disc featuring three previously unreleased demos — "Vocal," "She Pops," and "In Slow Motion" — alongside B-sides, remixes, and a long version of "The Way Through the Woods." Both formats were packaged with an extensive booklet featuring track-by-track commentary from Tennant and Lowe and archival photographs, with design by longtime collaborator Farrow.
Elysium (2017 Remaster)
Pet Shop Boys
Elysium is the eleventh studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, originally released on September 5–11, 2012 via Parlophone — the last album the duo would make with the label for over a decade. Recorded earlier that year in Los Angeles, it was co-produced by Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, and Andrew Dawson, the Grammy-winning engineer behind Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak — an album Tennant described himself as "mildly obsessed" with at the time. That influence is audible in Elysium's deep, sub-bass-driven electronic sound, which is warmer and more contemplative than much of the duo's previous work. Orchestral arrangements by Joachim Horsley, Andrew Dawson, and Ben Leathers add texture throughout, and the twelve songs — including singles "Winner," "Leaving," and "Memory of the Future" — carry a reflective, autumnal quality that Tennant himself called their "most beautiful album."
The 2017 remaster arrived on October 20, 2017 as part of Parlophone's Catalogue: 1985–2012 reissue series, which saw all of the duo's Parlophone studio albums remastered and reissued with "Further Listening" companion discs. The standalone 2017 remaster presents the original twelve-track album in newly remastered audio, while the expanded Elysium: Further Listening 2011–2012 edition pairs it with a second disc featuring three previously unreleased demos — "Vocal," "She Pops," and "In Slow Motion" — alongside B-sides, remixes, and a long version of "The Way Through the Woods." Both formats were packaged with an extensive booklet featuring track-by-track commentary from Tennant and Lowe and archival photographs, with design by longtime collaborator Farrow.