NEIL TENNANT : We considered approaching Xenomania for the last album, Fundamental. Then we read that New Order were working with them.
There's always been this synchronicity between the record collections of Bernard Sumner and the Pet Shop Boys, right from the word go. People have often thought mistakenly that we were influenced by "Blue Monday" but actually Bernard was just influenced by the same records we were. Eurobeat, Italodisco, ermerging New York hip hop... So we thought damn, can't believe it he's already got there. So we did that with Trevor Horn. But the tracks we started writing this year, most of them were pop, so we thought it was worth approaching Xenomania.

(...) We really didn't know that much about them. I very much liked the single "Biology" by Girls Aloud. I think that was an amazing single. It's funny 'cause it's nothing like anything Xenomania or Girls Aloud have ever done. It exists in its own world. It's quite sixties isn't it? Like so much of pop now.

POP MAGAZINE : You never know what Xenomania are going to do next. Which is unique for a production house. They don't have a formula.

NEIL TENNANT : No they don't. They're based out in Kent - that's quite important because it's a world of its own. It reminds me of Smash Hits. We used to be over the road from failing circulations. We had an article about New York hip hop before NME did. We used to lean out of the window to watch Nick Kent walking down the street. Secretly of course we were all thrilled to see him. We used to HATE Number One Magazine. We felt we got it, and those people didn't really get it. Well, Xenomania feels like that. Personally, I could disappear into a room upstairs at Xenomania and become part of the factory writing songs for Girls Aloud. I'd be quite happy, actually

CHRIS LOWE : It'd be a lot of fun !

POP MAGAZINE : Brian Higgins who set up Xenomania, his first success was "Believe" by Cher, wasn't it?

CHRIS LOWE : We didn't know that when we first met him! We discovered that. So impressed. "You wrote that ?!"

(...)

[Speaking about Justin Timberlake recording a song with the title "Cry Me A River"]

NEIL TENNANT : We keep having a discussion with Brian Higgins about... I maintain it's WEAK to write a new song called "Cry Me A River" when there's already a famous one. But he says it doesn't matter 'cause it's sincere.

Labels: Brian Higgins, Pet Shop Boys