Release is the eighth studio album by the Pet Shop Boys — Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe — originally released on April 1, 2002 via Parlophone/EMI, and reissued in July 2017 as Release: Further Listening 2001–2004 with new digital remasters and two bonus discs of B-sides and previously unreleased material. The album represented a marked stylistic departure for the duo, trading their signature dance-oriented electronic sound for a guitar-driven aesthetic — a direction Lowe proposed and pursued by bringing in former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who plays electric and acoustic guitar across seven of the record's ten tracks. Recorded primarily at Neil Tennant's home studio in County Durham between September 2000 and November 2001, the album's remote, contemplative setting left a tangible imprint on its character: as Lowe later reflected, "I don't think we'd have made this album in London. We were very remote — it's on the edge of the moors, the weather's more extreme, you're more isolated and you're contemplative." The title itself, suggested by photographer and video director Wolfgang Tillmans, carries a double meaning — a record release and an emotional one.Critically, the album divided opinion on release but has grown in stature over time. Billboard called it "a career highpoint" that "couldn't be more lovely if it tried," while Slant Magazine later deemed it "their most underrated masterpiece" and "an unflinching evocation of post-9/11 heartache." Its three singles — "Home and Dry," "I Get Along," and the continental Europe-only "London" — helped the album debut at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. The 2017 remaster was part of the Pet Shop Boys' broader Catalogue: 1985–2012 reissue campaign, and the expanded edition added notable bonus material including unreleased demos, John Peel session recordings, and a previously unreleased cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally" featuring Elton John — helping the album re-enter the UK Albums Chart at number 30 upon reissue.
