Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[Lleonard Pler]

Greetings,

Speaking of choices...

Track 147: You Choose
Chronology: Release - Track 10

Final track off Release. Please discuss, and now that we've listened all the way through, if you want to propose an alternative track listing for Release, this would be an ideal time.

Retro.

I used to confuse it with Here. It's cute though, specially when linked to similar tracks like Love comes quickly or Love is the law.

My take of the tracklist:

Home and dry
I get along
Birthday boy
London
Sexy northerner

Always
Between two islands
Samurai in autumn
Love is a catastrophe
I didn't get where I am today

Here and You choose would be the bsides, Email and The night kept in a vault and never mentioned.

Suddenly it becomes one of their best and most solid works.

[tophalba33]

Another song I can listen to without tearing my hair out, though it’s pretty weak by their standards—especially compared to other tracks they had written.
Following Retrofuturist’s suggestion, here is what my tracklist would have been (without worrying about the order):
HOME AND DRY
I GET A LONG
BIRTHDAY BOY
LONDON
E MAIL
THE SAMURAI
HERE

I DIDNT GET...
BETWEEN...
ALWAYS

For me, that would have made for a great album. Instead of those three—which I consider great songs—they included what I view as two mediocre tracks and one weak one, resulting in just an average album... And yes, it was their worst album up to that point.

Obviously the timings didn’t quite work out, Release with Always, Bright Young Things, I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today and Miracles would have been been fabulous.

[VRIDD]

My release / disco 3 tracklist

Home And Dry
I Get Along
Between Two Islands
London
If Looks Could Kill (john peel version)
A Powerful Friend (john peel version)
Try It
The Samurai In Autumn
Here (psb new extended mix)
Time On My Hands

[leesmapman]

You Choose. Great track, I should listen to it more often

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A528B met Tapatalk

[Morse]

Greetings,

Speaking of choices...

Track 147: You Choose
Chronology: Release - Track 10

Final track off Release. Please discuss, and now that we've listened all the way through, if you want to propose an alternative track listing for Release, this would be an ideal time.

Retro.

“You choose” is a fascinating ending to Release because it doesn’t really resolve anything. The verses suggest movement, possibility and change, but the chorus just keeps returning to the same conclusion: choosing defeat.

That’s what makes the song work so well. The refrain doesn’t feel like a release; it feels like a door closing. Each time it gets going and seems ready to move forward, it circles back to Neil effectively saying that you choose to lose when you could be winning. The music mirrors the subject, mind you: someone with choices who keeps returning to the same emotional position.

I really like Neil’s delivery, too. He doesn’t sound angry or self-righteous, just disappointed and resigned, as though he’s finally accepted that love can’t rescue someone who won’t help themselves.

As the final track on Release, it’s spectacularly apt. The album is full of escape, regret and emotional distance, and it ends not with fate, but responsibility. Quietly devastating, really.

[Morse]

Sorry, the post duplicated.

Deleted.

[telys]

You Choose is quite a good song but the delivery (production and vocal style) doesn't do it justice. There are plenty of Release-esque tracks scattered over the years which are way better than the stuff on Release. They should''ve gone back to those tracks and learned something. I was listening to The Calm Before The Storm earlier this morning and it has such a warmth and great instrumentation etc.
So to reitarate: there was nothing new about the Release record apart from it being poorly executed.

[NotInvisible]

So to reitarate: there was nothing new about the Release record apart from it being poorly executed.

Yes, that must be why fandom at the time thought it was same old, same old.

The hot takes here are getting out of control...

[telys]

So to reitarate: there was nothing new about the Release record apart from it being poorly executed.

Yes, that must be why fandom at the time thought it was same old, same old.

A clever forgery. It was seen as something "new" because the "acoustic" PSB was always scattered on b-sides and remixes. But it was always there. By god, one of the first PSB tracks is A Man Could Get Arrested (7'') full of 'real' instruments. Your Funny Uncle. There are heaps of guitar on Behaviour. Decadence. etc etc.

[davidctecno]

Track 148: Between two islands
Chronology: Release -Further Listening 2001-2004 Volume 1 Track 01

Neil Tennant revealed that he was inspired by a holiday trip to Estonia, where he learned of the existence of two real islands—whose names translate as "Island of Lovers" and "Island of Whores"—separated by an extremely treacherous shipping channel.

Tropical rhythms combined with melancholic, metaphorical lyrics. Excellent track that should have been on *Release*!!!

[Morse]

Track 148: Between two islands
Chronology: Release -Further Listening 2001-2004 Volume 1 Track 01

Neil Tennant revealed that he was inspired by a holiday trip to Estonia, where he learned of the existence of two real islands—whose names translate as "Island of Lovers" and "Island of Whores"—separated by an extremely treacherous shipping channel.

Tropical rhythms combined with melancholic, metaphorical lyrics. Excellent track that should have been on *Release*!!!

Between Two Islands (along with Always) has always felt to me like one of the treasures of the Release era. In the Further Listening notes, Neil says that the song was inspired by a holiday in Estonia, where he discovered two real islands whose names translate as “Island of Lovers” and “Island of Whores”, separated by a dangerous shipping channel. It’s a wonderfully Pet Shop Boys starting point: an obscure geographical curiosity transformed into a meditation on love, temptation, and the uncertain spaces between them.

As Dave said, musically Chris gives the song a typically understated, almost tropical groove that gently carries the lyric without ever overpowering it. The arrangement feels very relaxed and spacious, which lets Neil’s imagery unfold naturally. There’s no dramatic climax because the song isn’t trying to tell a story with a beginning and an end; Neil just lets us drift along with him on his journey.

What makes the song particularly satisfying for me is that the metaphor never becomes heavy-handed. Those two islands aren’t just about fidelity versus infidelity; to me they represent all of the uncertain choices we navigate throughout life. Pet Shop Boys often write about emotional ambiguity rather than certainty, and Between Two Islands is a fantastic example of that.

Looking back, it’s mad that this remained a bonus track. Alongside songs like The Resurrectionist, Always, I Didn't Get Where I Am Today and Break 4 Love, it demonstrates just how strong the whole Release period really was. Quiet, reflective, and beautifully crafted, it’s the kind of song that reveals a little more of itself every time you hear it.

[Richard-Eastham]

Greetings,

Speaking of choices...

Track 147: You Choose
Chronology: Release - Track 10

Final track off Release. Please discuss, and now that we've listened all the way through, if you want to propose an alternative track listing for Release, this would be an ideal time.

Retro.

“You choose” is a fascinating ending to Release because it doesn’t really resolve anything. The verses suggest movement, possibility and change, but the chorus just keeps returning to the same conclusion: choosing defeat.

That’s what makes the song work so well. The refrain doesn’t feel like a release; it feels like a door closing. Each time it gets going and seems ready to move forward, it circles back to Neil effectively saying that you choose to lose when you could be winning. The music mirrors the subject, mind you: someone with choices who keeps returning to the same emotional position.

I really like Neil’s delivery, too. He doesn’t sound angry or self-righteous, just disappointed and resigned, as though he’s finally accepted that love can’t rescue someone who won’t help themselves.

As the final track on Release, it’s spectacularly apt. The album is full of escape, regret and emotional distance, and it ends not with fate, but responsibility. Quietly devastating, really.

A brilliant analysis. Wonderful to read. Exactly this

[leesmapman]

Love the track. Such a catchy melody. I always think this could be on Bilingual for some reason.

[NOBODY75]

It’s best song than all *Release* album, with the exceptions of "Home and Dry" and "London"... so naturally, let's leave it off the record... Go figure.
The closing melody of the Madonna and Massive Attack collaboration fits like a glove, rounding out a truly brilliant composition that I loved from the start—and one that has only grown on me more over the years.

[Lleonard Pler]

The prequel to The secret of happiness in a time when they felt like something so lounge-y like this didn't fit "a PSB album". It should have been on Release and, if we invented a time machine, it should have been on Bilingual more fittingly. It's melody flows beautifully and wouldn't be out of place next to It always comes as a surprise. The final coda with I want you is a genius strike.