Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant Wonders When Taylor Swift Will Get Her “Billie Jean”

Pet Shop Boys share their thoughts on Taylor Swift following the release of the superstar's 11th studio album, Department of Tormented Poets.

In an interview with The guardianthe group's Neil Tennant shared, “I was looking at the chart earlier today… and it's all Taylor Swift.”

He continued, “I've listened to Taylor Swift's album. Taylor Swift kind of fascinates me as a phenomenon because she's so popular and I really like the whole thing. But when I listen to the records, and we both have the same feeling actually, this about a phenomenon so big [as she is] … where are the famous songs? What is Taylor Swift's 'Billie Jean'?'

When someone suggested “Shake It Off” as the popularity equivalent of Michael Jackson's enduring hit, Tennant responded, “But is it? No, 'cause actually I know that's the answer, but I heard it the other day, and I didn't it's 'Billie Jean.' It's not… Melodically — she's got a great voice, by the way, and the production is beautiful — but melodically… it's all sung a note or two that goes up and down… But, it's exciting anyway.”

The interviewer then added that the Swifties enjoy having a group experience, and Tennant agreed. “I love that, I kind of appreciate it and I love the fact that it brings all these people together, even multi-generational, but I just think the only let down is the music. Not even the lyrics, the music,” he said.

Check out the full interview via fan account here.

On Friday (April 19), what was originally planned to be a standard 16-track album turned into a 31-song anthology when Swift surprised fans just hours after the release with an additional second half of the project. “It's a 2AM surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album,” she wrote on Instagram. “I had written so much tortured poetry over the last 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here is the second part of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 additional songs. And now the story is no longer mine… it's all yours.”

After its release, Department of Tormented Poets sold 1.4 million copies in traditional album sales on its first day, according to initial reports from data tracking firm Luminate. This marks Swift's biggest sales week ever for any album in the US. Advertising signdiagrams of. All numbers in this story are for the US only.)