"Dreamland" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

duo

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

featuring English synth-pop band

Years & Years Years & Years is the solo project of British singer Olly Alexander. Originally formed as a band in 2010, Years & Years' music has been described as electropop, mixing R&B and 1990s house elements. The band's debut studio album, '' Communion'', ...

. It was released on 11 September 2019 as the lead single from Pet Shop Boys' fourteenth studio album, '' Hotspot'' (2020). The release of the single coincided with the announcement of Pet Shop Boys' first ever greatest hits tour, titled Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live which the duo performed in arenas around the UK.

Background

During the writing process,

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...

explained that the title of the track came when

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is a British singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of Years & Years and for his performance as Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 drama series, ''It's a Sin''. Early life Alexander w ...

told the duo that he had just visited the

Dreamland Margate Dreamland Margate is an amusement park and entertainment centre based on a traditional English seaside funfair located at Margate, Kent, England. The site of the park was first used for amusement rides in 1880, although the Dreamland name was ...

amusement park. According to an interview in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', the trio wrote the track in 2017, with Alexander explaining, "I felt like I didn't want to write about politics simply because I felt like I should but then last week I wrote a song with the Pet Shop Boys. It's inspired by a fairground in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

called Dreamland, but while I was writing it, Neil Tennant said to me, 'This makes sense right now with

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

closing the borders.' The song became something that touched on what's going on in the world. I'd write lyrics and he'd say, 'No, it needs to be more direct.' He'd take a simple line and interject a subversive political statement. That's the challenge as a pop writer, to do both at once". Of the single, Pet Shop Boys said: "It's so exciting that our new single is a collaboration with Years & Years, one of the most original and successful bands to emerge this decade, and we really enjoyed writing and recording it with Olly Alexander". Alexander added, "It was a dream come true to create something with two of my heroes, and spending time with Chris and Neil was an absolute joy. I had to pinch myself repeatedly!"

Live performances

During their headline slot at

Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park Radio 2 Live (formally known as Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park and Radio 2's Festival in a Day) is a British music festival that took place from 2011 to 2019 in Hyde Park in London, and is due to be held in Leeds in September 2022. The idea behind the ...

, Pet Shop Boys performed "Dreamland" live for the first time with Years & Years frontman

joining them on stage. The Pet Shop Boys subsequently appeared as guests on Alexander's New Years & Years Eve special broadcast on BBC1, where they performed both "Dreamland" and "

It's a Sin "It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, ''Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's se ...

". Alexander later joined the Pet Shop Boys for a performance of the song at the

2022 Glastonbury Festival The 2022 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 22 and 26 June. The three headlining acts were Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney, with Diana Ross performing in the Legend's slot. This is the fir ...

Track listings

*CD single #"Dreamland" – 3:30 #"An Open Mind" – 3:52 #"No Boundaries" – 3:38 #"Dreamland" (PSB remix) – 4:42 #"Dreamland" ( vocal remix) – 5:06 *Digital single #"Dreamland" – 3:28 #"An Open Mind" – 3:52 #"No Boundaries" – 3:40 *Digital EP – Remixes #"Dreamland" (PSB remix) – 4:41 #"Dreamland" (TWD vocal remix) – 5:06 #"Dreamland" (TWD dub) – 4:58 #"Dreamland" (Jacques Renault remix) – 5:45 *12-inch single :A1. "Dreamland" – 3:30 :A2. "Dreamland" (PSB remix) – 5:03 :B1. "Dreamland" (TWD vocal remix) – 4:56 :B2. "Dreamland" (TWD dub) – 5:44

Charts

References

2019 songs 2019 singles Pet Shop Boys songs Song recordings produced by Stuart Price Songs written by Chris Lowe Songs written by Neil Tennant Songs written by Olly Alexander Years & Years songs {{2019-single-stub