Super (Pet Shop Boys album)

Super is the thirteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 1 April 2016 on the band's own label, x2, through Kobalt Label Services. It was released digitally and on physical formats including vinyl and compact disc.^[1] The album debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Lead single "The Pop Kids" reached number one on the UK Physical Singles Chart and narrowly missed out on the top 100 of the main chart.

Super
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	1 April 2016 (2016-04-01)
Recorded	2015–2016
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	46:33
Label	x2
Producer	Stuart Price
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Electric (2013) Super (2016) Agenda (2019)
Singles from Super
"The Pop Kids" Released: 16 February 2016 "Twenty-something" Released: 24 June 2016 "Inner Sanctum" Released: 22 July 2016 "Say It to Me" Released: 16 September 2016 "Undertow" Released: 21 April 2017

Promotion

The album's release was announced on the band's website and social media pages on 21 January 2016, and was made available for pre-order via the iTunes Store on the same day. Those who pre-ordered Super received an instant download of the album's first track, "Inner Sanctum".^[1] Additionally, the band announced a four-performance residency at the Royal Opera House, held in July 2016.^[2] The album's opening track, "Happiness", was released as a second teaser track on 23 March 2016. The video for "Twenty-something" was released on 10 May 2016.^[3]

A pop-up shop was opened in London between 1 and 3 April 2016 to promote the release of the album.^{[citation needed]}

Tracks from this recording session were released in 2023 as Lost.^{[citation needed]}

Singles

"The Pop Kids" was released as the album's lead single on 16 February 2016.^[4] A CD single and a digital extended play was released on 18 March 2016, and features two remixes of "The Pop Kids" and two new tracks, "In Bits" and "One-Hit Wonder".^[5] A white vinyl 12" of "The Pop Kids" was released on 27 May. It features five remixes of the song.

On 24 June "Twenty-something" was released as the album's second single on CD and download, featuring the single edit, two new tracks "The White Dress" and "Wiedersehen", and two remixes.

On 22 July "Inner Sanctum" was released on 12-inch vinyl and to celebrate their sold out shows at the Royal Opera House in London. The 4-track vinyl release featured the Carl Craig C2 Juiced RMX, two demo versions of the song and the album version. The Carl Craig remix was also released digitally.

On 16 September "Say It to Me" was released digitally and on CD. Like "The Pop Kids" there were two separate digital bundles. The first includes an alternate mix of the song, as well as two new tracks, "A Cloud in a Box" and "The Dead Can Dance". The second bundle includes remixes by Tom Demac, Real Lies, and Offer Nissim. A 12" vinyl format was released a week later. The song entered the US Billboard Dance Chart at number 31 on 21 October. On 10 December the song reached number four. No promotional video was created for "Say It to Me" and it remains the only single not performed on their 2016 Super Tour.

Originally, "Burn" was planned as the fourth and final single, however, these plans were cancelled following the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.^[6]

On 1 April 2017 a three-track CD of "Undertow" was released exclusively with orders of the new Annually book. A four-track vinyl 12-inch was released commercially on 21 April, the same day as the three track digital download. The CD and digital download contains new remixes of "Undertow" and "Burn" by Tuff City Kids and Baba Stiltz respectively, as well as a new studio version of "Left to My Own Devices". The vinyl single includes these three tracks and adds "Undertow" (Tuff City Kids dub).

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.0/10^[7]
Metacritic	75/100^[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Attitude	8/10^[9]
Consequence of Sound	C+^[10]
Drowned in Sound	8/10^[11]
Evening Standard	^[12]
Exclaim!	7/10^[13]
The Guardian	^[14]
MusicOMH	^[15]
PopMatters	9/10^[16]
Rolling Stone Russia	^[17]
Slant Magazine	^[18]

Super received generally favourable reviews from music critics.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart, selling 16,953 copies in its first week, becoming their 13th consecutive top 10 studio album.^[19] In the United States, Super debuted at number 58 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 10,000 copies. It also debuted at number one on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart, becoming Pet Shop Boys' first number-one album on the chart since Disco 3 (2003).^[20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, except "Say It to Me" written by Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, and Stuart Price

Super track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Happiness"	4:04
2.	"The Pop Kids"	3:55
3.	"Twenty-something"	4:22
4.	"Groovy"	3:29
5.	"The Dictator Decides"	4:50
6.	"Pazzo!"	2:44
7.	"Inner Sanctum"	4:18
8.	"Undertow"	4:15
9.	"Sad Robot World"	3:18
10.	"Say It to Me"	3:08
11.	"Burn"	3:53
12.	"Into Thin Air"	4:17
Total length:		46:33

Personnel

• Pet Shop Boys – performers and programming
• Stuart Price – production, mixing and additional programming
• Jessica Freedman – additional vocals on "Undertow"
• Nayana Holley – additional vocals on "Burn"

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Super Chart (2016) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[21] 12 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[22] 8 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[23] 21 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[24] 27 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[25] 35 Croatian International Albums (HDU)^[26] 21 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[27] 2 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[28] 27 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[29] 13 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[30] 8 French Albums (SNEP)^[31] 39 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[32] 3 Greek Albums (IFPI)^[33] 24 Irish Albums (IRMA)^[34] 16 Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)^[35] 3 Italian Albums (FIMI)^[36] 20 Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[37] 47 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[38] 28 Polish Albums (ZPAV)^[39] 48 Scottish Albums (OCC)^[40] 5 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[41] 7 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[42] 10 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[43] 4 UK Albums (OCC)^[44] 3 UK Independent Albums (OCC)^[45] 2 US Billboard 200^[46] 58 US Independent Albums (Billboard)^[47] 5 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)^[48] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Super Chart (2016) Position US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)^[49] 14

Sales

Sales for Super

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom	—	33,041^[50]
United States	—	20,000^[51]

References

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2. . petshopboys.co.uk. 21 January 2016. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
3. Archived at Ghostarchive and the : "Pet Shop Boys – 'Twenty-something' (Official Video)" – via YouTube.
4. "The Pop Kids (Radio Edit)". Qobuz. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
5. . petshopboys.co.uk. 12 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
6. Studer, Wayne. "Burn". www.geowayne.com. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
7. "Pet Shop Boys: Super". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
8. Super at Metacritic  
9. O'Brien, Jon (30 March 2016). . Attitude. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
10. Comaratta, Len (29 March 2016). "Pet Shop Boys – Super". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
11. Woolley, Hayden (April 2016). . Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
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15. Hogwood, Ben (1 April 2016). "Pet Shop Boys – Super". musicOMH. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
16. Gerard, Chris (4 April 2016). "Super". PopMatters. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
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19. Jones, Alan (8 April 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Everything You've Come To Expect tops the Official Albums Chart". Music Week. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
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26. "Top Stranih [Top Foreign]" (in Croatian). Top Foreign Albums. Hrvatska diskografska udruga. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
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32. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Super" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
33. "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Week: 16/2016)". IFPI Greece. from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
34. . Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
35. . Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
36. "Italiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Super". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
37. スーパー | ペット・ショップ・ボーイズ [Super | Pet Shop Boys] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
38. "Norwegiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Super". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
39. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
40. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
41. "Spanishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Super". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
42. "Swedishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Super". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
43. "Swisscharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Super". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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45. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
46. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
47. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
48. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
49. "Dance/Electronic Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
50. Homewood, Ben (2 February 2017). "Pet Shop Boys to be honoured with NME's Godlike Genius Award". Music Week. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
51. Murray, Gordon (20 October 2016). "Billboard Dance Chart Upstarts: Pet Shop Boys, Party Favor & Seven Lions". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2019.