Annually 2026

[Gabby]

It's usually around this time we start to hear from the Boys about Annually for the next year, so thought I'd start the thread.

Be nice to get more info on AMFTF, Naked and maybe some teaser of work on a new album.

[tottenhammattspurs]

Yay. More dreamworld tour diaries!

[Andie]

I was just thinking that last night!

[Dog]

Don’t they just open for questions about now? I’m not sure they share anything more about it until the presale opens, presumably in the new year.

[DopeFiend]

I've been thinking about it, whether a CD will be included.
I feel they should probably include some kind of bonus trinket.

They've been trying to sell t-shirts with Annually but those aren't very tantilising.

By the way with Annually, it's largely uneventful for us diehard dedicated fans. Because we're keeping on top of each movement, appearance and release. Last Annually I felt like I could have written it. It's great to have an archive of what the boys got up to through the year but the reality is fans have already seen 95% percent of it.
That left over 5% is exciting though and generally enough reason to order a copy. The 'favourite records' segment, exclusive photos, insight into the new songs released.
2025's output includes the Russia/Ukraine protest song and the Tina Turner song.
Two releases most of us aren't big on. Battleship Potemkin re-release and Disco 5 are lackluster too, though it may be interesting to read about potential ideas for Disco 5 that weren't seen through. At least an explanation of why there's 1 song from 1993 and the rest mostly from the past 5 years.
The summer tour through Europe will surely have a large section.
I'm looking forward to hearing about the insights and antics.

Do we think the Go West controversy will have a section?
They seem to be very secretive about it.
But it's a significant turn of events that has spanned 2025 from the January Dreamworld Blu-ray announcement with preorders opening, to then March the lawsuit quietly opening, April the "circumstances outside of our control" announcement with the release date moving from May to August. Then in June the "publishing dispute" announcement with the release date pushed to early 2026 and all orders cancelled. They even specifically mentioned it was due to an ongoing publishing dispute over one of the songs. We speculated about which one but didn't really know. June was also the resumption of the tour but this time with Go West omitted. July and August again Pop Kids replacing Go West. These were all festival concerts so the missing song wasn't much of a red flag, but in October court documents surfaced regarding the negligent broadcast of Dreamworld Live In Copenhagen in previous months which was thankfully dismissed of all charges. These court documents reveal to fans what happened in March and the true reason for the delays and setlist change.

The part that can be addressed in Annually is why this initially happened, from PSB's perspective.
And they can talk about the impacts of it, what they think of it.
Although serious, it's a rather amusing piece of drama. The Village People sue Pet Shop Boys for slandering Go West, PSB VS Victor Willis. They have an opportunity to set the record straight for fans, and for casual readers to indulge in some back and forth petty drama.
In my opinion it's worth writing about. But it is ongoing (as far as we know) so maybe it's inappropriate to address while unresolved. I would like if they wrote about it though, not being able to perform one of their biggest songs is a big deal.

Anyway I don't expect any hints about new material. The purpose of Annually is to reflect and archive the past year.
Musik's broadway revival, Battleship Potemkin/It Couldn't Happen Here promo interview, Discography vinyl reissue, "Great Movie Songs" concert with a Jake Shears duet and a rendition of Everybody's Talkin, the It's A Sin netflix series trailer, the Primal Scream remix. There's plenty of material to pad out the publication.
I'm not convinced they'll be able to market it in an immediately appealing way.
Last year's Annually had us discussing whether it's of any value, and that's with the release year of Nonetheless with all it's singles and b-sides. This year doesn't have an album release, and like others have said we've already read about Dreamworld tour diaries in multiple previous editions. I imagine the overheads for putting together some writing is fairly manageable so I fully expect the Annually 2026 announcement, just whether we find it appealing is in the air at this stage from my perspective. (The lyrics of Miserablism come to mind, having low expectations to avoid disappointment)

[tottenhammattspurs]

There's the Mark Springer collab. On which note, I still want to know why they fell out with Elton "Hissy-fit" John.....

[TallThinMan]

Do we think the Go West controversy will have a section?
They seem to be very secretive about it.
But it's a significant turn of events that has spanned 2025 from the January Dreamworld Blu-ray announcement with preorders opening, to then March the lawsuit quietly opening, April the "circumstances outside of our control" announcement with the release date moving from May to August. Then in June the "publishing dispute" announcement with the release date pushed to early 2026 and all orders cancelled. They even specifically mentioned it was due to an ongoing publishing dispute over one of the songs. We speculated about which one but didn't really know. June was also the resumption of the tour but this time with Go West omitted. July and August again Pop Kids replacing Go West. These were all festival concerts so the missing song wasn't much of a red flag, but in October court documents surfaced regarding the negligent broadcast of Dreamworld Live In Copenhagen in previous months which was thankfully dismissed of all charges. These court documents reveal to fans what happened in March and the true reason for the delays and setlist change.

The part that can be addressed in Annually is why this initially happened, from PSB's perspective.
And they can talk about the impacts of it, what they think of it.
Although serious, it's a rather amusing piece of drama. The Village People sue Pet Shop Boys for slandering Go West, PSB VS Victor Willis. They have an opportunity to set the record straight for fans, and for casual readers to indulge in some back and forth petty drama.
In my opinion it's worth writing about. But it is ongoing (as far as we know) so maybe it's inappropriate to address while unresolved. I would like if they wrote about it though, not being able to perform one of their biggest songs is a big deal.

If it gets a mention then it will be in the News section with a few sentences of commentary from Neil and Chris ("We're sorry and it's very frustrating" etc). I think it depends on when that section is written and the status of the legal action. It's standard practice not to comment on ongoing legal cases.

[OakeyDokey]

That long post makes it seem like the dullest year in Pet history (no offence!). Poor Mr Heath will be scrabbling around for content. Maybe time to knock it on the head, for now anyway...

[leesmapman]

Disco 5 specs probably.

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[Sithblade]

The 1987/88 dairies would welcome after they did 1986 a few years ago now. Don't think they need to go any further than '88 as Literally covers '89 onwards.

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[OakeyDokey]

Wish Neil would just write his memoir already.

[babi7808]

What are you talking about? Don't write it yet. That would mean the band is over or dead. I hope it will be for a very, very long time.

[MikeyC]

There's the Mark Springer collab. On which note, I still want to know why they fell out with Elton "Hissy-fit" John.....

Didn’t we all speculate at the time that it was regarding the live performance of It’s a sin with Elton and Olly and the proper crediting of PSB…?

[Sandy Shaw]

That long post makes it seem like the dullest year in Pet history (no offence!). Poor Mr Heath will be scrabbling around for content. Maybe time to knock it on the head, for now anyway...

They may let us know more about the workshop run through of "Naked". We've also had the double bill BFI screening of It Couldn't Happen Here and Battleship Potemkin and then a revival of Musik at Wilton's.

[DopeFiend]

That long post makes it seem like the dullest year in Pet history (no offence!). Poor Mr Heath will be scrabbling around for content. Maybe time to knock it on the head, for now anyway...

They may let us know more about the workshop run through of "Naked". We've also had the double bill BFI screening of It Couldn't Happen Here and Battleship Potemkin and then a revival of Musik at Wilton's.

In recent Annuallys when there wasn't much to report, they dug up archived diaries. They could do something similar, include something completely unrelated to the current year.