UK, 1988, synthpop / dance-pop / hi-NRG
For all their iconic bangers, Pet Shop Boys’ best track is “Left to My Own Devices”. Just a flawless dance-pop tune, with this beautiful, ever-renewing center of energy that invigorates everyone it washes over and, despite its long play for a pop song, cannot help but hold the room in its sway. Besides, that crescendo moment where the beat disappears, only to return with joyful trumpets? Perfection. Earworm synths, exuberant brass, and dramatic dance-floor beats follow, leading into one of the best and most unexpected covers ever recorded: a hi-NRG rendition of an old country song, keeping the lyrics slow but working it to a fast dance beat. And not afraid to indulge in some wonderfully campy faux-opera vocals.
Museum Musica 
Usually, I find synths musically offensive, but the Pet Shop Boys make them sound positively pretty.
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