Neil Tennant has declared modern pop music is ‘narcissistic’ as he complained it’s all too ‘processed’ now.
In the 80s, Neil and his bandmate Chris Lowe topped charts with hits like West End Girls, It’s a Sin, and a cover of Always on My Mind.
The Pet Shop Boys legends were recently honoured for their contribution to pop in Manchester at the MTV EMAs with the inaugural Pop Pioneers Award.
However, away from the show he confessed he isn’t a big fan of anyone dominating the genre at the moment.
Neil, 70, confessed he struggles with the music in the charts and finds it all a bit ‘difficult now’, having clashed with Drake last year.
‘I don’t like the sound of it,’ he told The Mirror. ‘I am an electronic musician so I know the sound of it but it is so processed now. I find it all narcissistic.’
The Heart hitmaker believes the 80s were the golden age of pop, with experimental lyrics and boundary-pushing groups like Spandau Ballet and Culture Club.
Neil, whose last top 10 single was in 2006, even took aim at the 90s and recently reunited Oasis for not being ‘weird’ enough with their songs.
‘A lot of people think the 1990s is a golden era, with Oasis and stuff, but it seemed at the time in the 90s that people started re-writing The Beatles and looking back,’ he added. ‘In the 80s something exciting used to happen. But that stopped and fizzled out.’
He complained about the use of boot camps where songwriters go to hone their skills, stating it isn’t going to produce anything miraculous like David Bowie.
The Pet Shop Boys were credited as the most successful pop duo in UK music history by Guinness World Records in 1999.
They have been nominated for seven Grammy Awards – but never won – and have won two Brit Awards in the 80s and another Brit in 2009 for their Outstanding Contribution to Music.
In the interview, Neil also took aim at people who write about their relationships and themselves rather than looking to less personal topics.
‘To have a successful pop career now you have to have a series of relationships which are amazing and then break up tragically,’ he complained. ‘I sometimes wonder what the other half of the relationship feels about this.’
Neil has made no secret of his disdain for modern pop, despite working with Years & Years singer Olly Alexander on a remix of It’s A Sin in 2021 – even sharing the Pyramid Stage with him.
He previously derided Taylor Swift over her music, bringing the Fortnight singer up in multiple interviews while promoting the Pet Shop Boys 2024 album Nonetheless.
To the BBC, he said she was ‘fascinating’ because she doesn’t have a ‘famous song’ while praising her contemporary Harry Styles for his track As It Was.