Inner Sanctum

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2016
Original album - Super
Producer - Stuart Price
Subsequent albums - Inner Sanctum
Other releases - (none)

Released digitally on January 21, 2016 as a "taster" from Super—not as its first single, an honor reserved for "The Pop Kids"—this primarily instrumental dance track features sparse vocals, with Neil sporadically singing the couplet that makes up its lyrics in their entirety:

In the inner sanctum, you're a star
The girls, the guys, they all know who you are

It's the very sparsity of those lyrics that begs the question, just what is this "inner sanctum"? To be sure, it may be a very real public space, such as a dance club—or perhaps an exclusive room within such a club, open only to VIPs—where the person being addressed ("you") is a fabulous individual known to all of the other habitués of the same venue. Neil has said that this song was at least partly inspired by clubs in Las Vegas where "you think, oh, this is the inner sanctum—this is where you're drinking champagne with the DJ." But it could just as easily be a more private place, perhaps even wholly imaginary, in one's own mind. This possibility is suggested by the choice of words that refer to it, "inner sanctum." In that case, the song becomes an expression of a fantasy in which "you" make yourself the star of your own private drama. If you take that view, then your particular viewpoint would also determine whether you regard this song as extremely life-affirming or merely a means of pandering to the listener's more narcissistic impulses.

Annotations

The term "inner sanctum" is quite old, long used to refer to the most sacred area of a church or temple. It's closely akin to the concept of the "Holy of Holies" (Latin sanctum sanctorum), the innermost chamber of the sanctuary in the Jewish Temple in ancient Jerusalem, reserved for the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God, and which could be entered only by the High Priest. The word sanctum itself is taken from the Latin, being the noun form of the adjective sanctus, meaning "holy." In a non-religious metaphorical sense, an "inner sanctum" is any place reserved for a select few, to which the vast majority of people are denied entry.
This track was originally titled "Poptasm"—likely a portmanteau of "pop" and "orgasm." They had long thought of writing a song with this title but had never gotten around to it. When Chris decided to assign the "Poptasm" label to this track, Neil countered that, no, though he liked it, it wasn't "Poptasm."
A number of fans have observed a strong resemblance between "Inner Sanctum" and the 1990 trance classic "The Age of Love" by a studio outfit also calling themselves The Age of Love—a similarity that I wouldn't have noticed on my own since I had never previously even heard (or heard of) "The Age of Love." In particular, it's the popular 1992 "Watch Out For Stella Club Mix" of the song by Jam & Spoon—themselves known to PSB fans for their remixes of "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" and "Young Offender"—that attracts the most attention for a perceived resemblance. "The Age of Love" was written and produced by Italian disco artists Bruno Sanchioni and Giuseppe Cherchia, and first released on a Belgian record label. (The title of both the song and the act are alternately written with and without the initial article "The." It's difficult to discern which is "correct" since even official releases have shown them both ways.) I agree that in some ways there's a noticeable similarity between the tracks, though I wouldn't go so far as to suggest, as some have, that the writers of "The Age of Love" deserve a co-writing credit on the PSB track. As far as I know, the Pet Shop Boys have yet to acknowledge or address this matter.
One of my site visitors pointed out another strong resemblance, this time between the "First Demo" of "Inner Sanctum" and their earlier number "Sexy Northerner" (the original b-side version that appeared on Format, not so much the Superchumbo Mix featured on Disco 3). The similarity is especially pronounced in the underlying rhythm of the two tracks. I suspect this resemblance wasn't lost on the Boys themselves (who may not have noticed it at first), which then inspired them to eliminate it in the final album version of "Inner Sanctum."

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Stuart Price
- Album version (4:18)
  - A promo CD single contains what is described as a "Radio Edit," but it appears to be identical to the album version, right down to the exact same length.
- Inner Sanctum CD live version (4:36)
Mixer: Carl Craig
- Carl Craig C2 Juiced RMX (7:07)
  - Available on an exclusive limited-edition 12-inch vinyl single, on a promo CD single, as a digital download on iTunes and Amazon, and as a bonus track on the "Say It to Me" CD single.
Mixer: Pet Shop Boys (?)
- First Demo (1:45)
- Second Demo (4:43)
  - Both available on the aforementioned exclusive limited-edition 12-inch vinyl single and on a promo CD single.

List cross-references

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