Pet Shop Boys switch labels for new 'Electric' album

(Reuters) - Pet Shop Boys have left the record label Parlophone after 28 years and will release their new studio album "Electric" through independent music publisher Kobalt in June, the British duo said on Thursday.

The chart-toppers, whose 1980s hits include "West End Girls" and "It's A Sin", said further details of their 12th studio album would be released soon.

The move by the duo, who have sold 50 million records worldwide since getting together 32 years ago, comes a month after it was announced that Parlophone was being sold to Warner Music.

Parlophone was previously one of EMI's most prized assets but Vivendi's Universal Music Group agreed last year to sell the label to satisfy European regulators over its $1.9 billion purchase of EMI's recorded music business.

The Pet Shop Boys said when they signed with Parlophone, whose artists also include Coldplay, they had no idea how long or how successful the relationship would be.

"However it is also exciting now to commence a new phase working with a new team in a new business structure and we look forward to a creative and equally fulfilling relationship with Kobalt," bandmates Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe said in a statement on their website.

Kobalt is a fast-growing independent music publisher set up in 2000 by Swedish businessman Willard Ahdritz who established a new publishing model to release and market records while giving the musicians greater control and ownership of their work.

The label's first international album release, "Push The Sky Away" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, debuted this year at No. 1 in seven countries and in the top four in 13 other countries.