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 ‘Being Boring’ live on Top of the Pops.
Neil records the lead vocal for ‘To Step Aside.’
The Boys conclude their Mexican vacation and fly back to London.
Chris and Neil videotape an appearance on an upcoming episode of The Alan Titchmarsh Show.
In the morning, at Chris’s home in London, they meet with their manager Angela Becker to continue their discussions about a possible producer for their next album. They tentatively settle upon Andrew Dawson, who had mixed the previous two albums by Kanye West, so Angela then sends him an email about it. After lunch, the Boys work on the new song ‘Public Disgrace,’ which soon evolves into ‘No More Ballads.’
In a second day in a row of working on ‘Love Is a Bourgeois Construct,’ Neil re-sings some lyrics he has recently changed.
The Pet Shop Boys appear in concert at the Conrad Resort and Casino in Punta Del Este, Uruguay—their first live performance ever in that nation.
After working further on ‘Only the Dark,’ Chris and Neil begin work on a new track called ‘Any Longer.’