Reviewed: Pet Shop Boys - Inside A Dream

Oh, how I love this. It's one of my three favourite Electric tracks; the others being Bolshy and Shouting In The Evening. It's a beautiful dream-scape of a song. It literally envelops you in its luxurious synths, every time I listen to it. Very relaxing, and it's the slowest song on the album. It starts off very ambient (with vauge trance flourishes)in style, before picking up tempo. It does become quite a snappy synth-pop track, but never a total all-out dance number like most of the other Electric songs. It's really no bad thing. I think this might be one of the most classic sounding Pet Shop Boys tracks on Electric really. My favorite aspect of the arrangement definitely is how it embodies the title of the song. The opening chords really do sound like you're in a dream. Even Neil Tennant's vocals have a decidedly hazy feel here, and his ethereal tone just complements the song perfectly. The lyrics to Inside A Dream are ambiguous though, to say the least. More than a little vague too. It's hard to pinpoint just precisely what the song is about really. Neil himself has even commented "I don't know what I was thinking of really" when he wrote the song. The lyrics reference "The Land of Dreams". When I heard that, my gut reaction was that the song is referencing the USA. I've a sneaking suspicion I wasn't the only person that thought the same either. Therefore there's a possibility that - at least subconsciously - the lyrics are about their three month stint in Los Angeles in early 2012. They lived there whilst creating Elysium, although many of the tracks on Electric spanned from those sessions too. Inside A Dream didn't come from those sessions though. It was shortly afterwards. Initial composition began in Berlin, with the track being subsequently completed in London. Of course, my theory on the lyrics could be wrong. Then again, considering even Neil Tennant didn't have anything in mind when writing them, perhaps not. It's certainly plausible that their experiences in LA are reflected subconsciously here. Regardless of the lyrics, I just love the atmosphere of this. Dreamy, tranquil. It's probably the most atmospheric track on Electric. It's divine really.