"Love Etc." is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their tenth studio album, Yes (2009). It was released by Parlophone on 16 March 2009 as the album's lead single[2] and debuted at number 14, becoming Pet Shop Boys' last top 20 hit on the UK Singles Chart.[3] "Love Etc." was the duo's ninth number-one entry on Billboard magazine's Hot Dance Club Songs chart, with Pet Shop Boys overtaking Depeche Mode for the record of the most dance chart-toppers by a duo or group in August 2009.[4]
"Love Etc." was co-written by Pet Shop Boys with songwriting and production team Xenomania. The music was based on a track that Xenomania had written for another project, which they played at their initial meeting with the duo. Chris Lowe wanted to use it on Yes, and head producer Brian Higgins agreed. They collaborated on the track with the intention of releasing it as the album's first single.[5]
Pet Shop Boys described "Love Etc." as "a post-lifestyle anthem which sounds like nothing we've done before".[6] The message of the song is that love is more important than seeking fame or acquiring material possessions.[7] The lyrics mention the artist Gerhard Richter, whose work inspired the cover art of the album and single.[8] The title, which is not in the lyrics, came from an email Tennant received from an old friend signed "Love etc."[5]
Release
"Love Etc." was released on 16 March 2009 and sold 13,644 copies in its first week in the UK.[9] The song was on BBC Radio 2's primary A List, and Absolute Radio played it on their second-tier B List.[10] It was the duo's 41st hit song, peaking at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.[9] In the liner notes of the 2017 reissue Yes: Further Listening 2008–2010, it was noted: "'Love etc.' would be the Pet Shop Boys last Top 20 hit to date, and by the time they released 'Together' [2010] at the very end of this period, because of how both British radio and the way that the charts were compiled had changed as technology and patterns of music consumption evolved, it was no longer likely that a Pet Shop Boys single would reach the Top 40".[11]
On 24 March 2009, "Love Etc." was released digitally by Astralwerks as the duo's first single in the United States since "Break 4 Love" in 2001.[13][14]
Artwork
The sleeve for the single was designed by Mark Farrow with Pet Shop Boys. The image (pictured) consists of three pink X shapes representing kisses.[15] The single has a white background and the Remixes EP has a black background. The shapes are made of squares in different shades of pink in a style similar to the cover art of Yes, which features a tick mark formed with colored squares.[8] Pet Shop Boys were inspired by the stained glass window at Cologne Cathedral designed by Gerhard Richter, who is mentioned in "Love Etc."[16]
Music video
The music video was directed by Dutch digital artist Han Hoogerbrugge.[17] The website Stereogum described it as a "horizontally scrolling animated video [that] is part Sonic The Hedgehog (dated video game reference!) and part Pac Man (chomping down on hearts, shamrocks, and cash money), with a lineup of Chrisses, Neils, and others shouting, flexing, unmasking, and turning into draculas."[18]
Critical reception
Anthony Strutt of Penny Black Music described "Love Etc." as "what the band do best, having a big pop sound and massive summery beats to chase our colds away… A welcome return which builds on from their usual sound".[19] Nick Levine of Digital Spy wrote: "It's not the firecracker many were hoping for, but this perky electropop shuffle, with its call-and-response chorus and "love is for free" message, really hits home the third or fourth time you hear it".[20]
Reviewers for The Singles Jukebox gave the single an average score of 7.22 out of 10. Ian Mathers gave the highest score of 9, commenting: "This might be their best single since the mind-bendingly great "Flamboyant," and like that song it sees the band in a reflective, advice giving mood, one that suits them surprisingly well". Giving the lowest score of 5, Edward Okulicz described "Love Etc." as "A relatively slight song, but flashes of excellence; the slightly sinister plinky backing and the call and response chorus are both fine. Some problems though: the first verse's melody doesn’t suit Neil Tennant's voice at all … and the lyrics are frankly awful in places…" M.H. Lo gave it a score of 7, observing: "It's a clichéd sentiment, especially from a band that once wrote a song ("If There Was Love," for Liza Minnelli) to rebut the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love." The unfulfilled promise of the lyric, sadly, is representative: while still above-average, this track falls short of being one of the band's best". Hillary Brown also rated the single 7, calling it "Quietly marvelous stuff that taps just the right mildly melancholic vein without ever becoming depressing".[21]
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