When the Pet Shop Boys produced Sam Taylor-Wood’s cover of I’m In Love With A German Film Star late last year, it was a hopeful sign that they may have been about to throw a curveball for their own upcoming album. Granted the track wasn’t very far removed from the maple syrup covered output the boys usually deliver themselves, but the fact that it was released on Kompakt and included a remix from Gui Boratto was enough to start the rumour mill turning.

It was wishful thinking really. Instead of a gamble in underground electronica, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s 10th studio album is full of the same sugary sweet synthpop they’ve been peddling since Very. There is of course nothing wrong with retreading the same path, if it is still successful. Whilst this may be the case commercially, the last real critical praise the Pet Shop Boys have had since the West End Girls / It’s A Sin / Always On My Mind era was crafting the moody number The Crying Game for Boy George back in 1993.

UK production team Xenomania have jumped on board for Yes, a collective known most notably for writing chart toppers for pop acts like The Sugababes and Girls Aloud. It shows too; as you could very easily imagine most of this album being performed by either of those pop tart groups. Whilst the Xenomania touch leaves the songs sounding very clean and polished, slick production values can’t mask the lazy songwriting that plagues throughout (ending tracks by repeating the chorus and fading out wasn’t even clever in the 80s, fellas). One of the only qualities that Yes does retain is its lyrics, with Tennant cheekily commenting on the superficialities of modern society in his distinct nasal tone. But lyrics alone can’t save this album from some of its truly cringeworthy moments – the brass section in All Over The World sampling Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker being the main offender.

As scathing as this all sounds, Yes will still most likely be a commercial success. When you’re one of the most celebrated duos to ever grace the Billboard dance charts and possess an ever-loyal fanbase, you can make bad albums and get away with it. If however you’re happy to leave the Pet Shop Boys back in the realms of nostalgia and want some quality synthpop for 2009, go and buy the new Junior Boys album.