Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys has spoken about Taylor Swift in an interview with The Guardian journalist, Alex Petridis, conducted on the occasion of the launch of ‘Nonetheless’, the new Pet Shop Boys album, which goes on sale today 26 of April. And his assessment of Taylor Swift isn’t exactly positive.
Tennant comes to say that Taylor Swift’s music does not seem to him to live up to the phenomenon. “I’ve listened to Taylor Swift’s album,” says Tennant in reference to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. “Taylor fascinates me as a phenomenon because she is tremendously popular and I find this whole thing funny, but when I listen to the songs, and both (Chris Lowe) and I have the same feeling, when you think about the phenomenon you wonder, where are the songs? famous? Where is Taylor Swift’s ‘Billie Jean’?”
When Tennant talks about music “at the height”, he refers to the complexity of the compositions. He doesn’t think ‘Billie Jean’ is comparable to any Taylor Swift song. The Guardian suggests that ‘Shake it Off’ may be just as popular as Michael Jackson’s classic, but Tennant disagrees with the comparison. “It’s not ‘Billie Jean.’ She has a very good voice, and the production is beautiful, but the melody is sung melody up, melody down,” says the British musician.
Speaking of the phenomenon surrounding the author of ‘Fearless’, The Guardian points out that one of the reasons for Swift’s popularity is that her followers – the swifites – enjoy “having a collective experience.” Tennant responds that she “likes” that Swift’s music “unites so many people,” but that she finds her music to be the “disappointing” component of the whole phenomenon. “Not even the lyrics, but the music,” she adds.
The topic of Taylor Swift’s lyrics is precisely what starts the conversation about Swift between Neil Tennant and The Guardian. Petridis claims that today’s pop lyrics are particularly focused on “the self,” and Tennant agrees: “To have a successful career in pop today, you have to have had a series of incredible romantic relationships, and then break up.” tragically.”
