British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys have dedicated their new track Hymn (In memoriam Alexei Navalny) to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in February 2024.
The song was released on the band’s official YouTube channel and is also available in several versions, including a choral arrangement and a dance mix featuring excerpts from Navalny’s speeches.
Just over a year ago, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison in Russia. We wrote and demoed this song last year, and we now dedicate it to his memory and his cause,” Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe said in a statement.
In the lyrics, Pet Shop Boys call for a “Free Russia,” liberated from “the poison of Putin,” “the lies of its leaders and its autocracy,” as well as “its past, its present and its bleak cruelty.”
Pet Shop Boys have long been among the most successful British pop acts, with fifteen studio albums, numerous collaborations, and a record number of Top 40 singles in the UK charts. The duo has also repeatedly spoken out on political issues. In 2022 they condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine and expressed admiration for Russian singer Alla Pugacheva after she criticized the invasion. They also voiced support for imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Gorinov and for the human rights group Memorial after its forced closure.
In 2023, the band released the track Living in the Past, written from the perspective of Vladimir Putin, who compares himself to Stalin and speaks of ruling through fear. Their fourteenth studio album, Nonetheless, was released in April 2024.
With Hymn, Pet Shop Boys continue their outspoken engagement with Russian politics and dedicate their music to the memory of Navalny, framing him as a symbol of courage and resistance.