The British electropop duo Pet Shop Boys has released a new track, A Top Secret Washing Machine, dedicated to Vladimir Putin. In the song, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe mock the Russian leader, his "secrets," and the history of poisoning political opponents. This is reported by Wave RBC.UA, citing the band's YouTube channel.

Sarcastic Questions About the "Top Secret Washing Machine"

In the lyrics, the musicians pose a series of sarcastic questions about the Russian president. In particular, they "wonder" who washes his underwear and keeps the secrets "in the depths of his residence in a top-secret washing machine." As the song goes: "Who washes Putin's underwear? Who must keep them clean in the depths of his residence in a top-secret washing machine?"

Recalling Navalny's Poisoning

The track then features lines about what happens when Putin "poisons an opponent's underwear." The authors wonder whether he laughs at his own "genius scheme" and recall the president's possible "nightmares" of a prison cell. In the final part of the composition, it is sung that his underwear is supposedly washed by a "loyal woman or man," and that the secrets will be kept "until one unhappy day when it all comes out."

Connection to Navalny's 2021 Speech

In the release description, the duo noted that the track comes out against the backdrop of parliamentary elections in Russia, calling them "the first parliamentary elections in Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022." The musicians also quoted a 2021 speech by Alexei Navalny, in which the opposition figure called Putin a "underwear poisoner" — this was his reaction to being poisoned with the nerve agent "Novichok," which was linked to the substance being applied to his underwear. At the end of that speech, Navalny stated that Putin would go down in history as "Vladimir — the underwear poisoner."

New Album About Alan Turing

It is noted that the new song will not be included on the band's upcoming album A Man From The Future. The record will be dedicated to the life and legacy of the British mathematician and cryptographer Alan Turing, and its release is scheduled for October 9, 2026.

About the Band

Pet Shop Boys are a British electropop duo consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, who have been working together since the 1980s and are considered among the most prominent representatives of synth-pop. Thus, the new track became yet another public statement by the collective, which has previously addressed political themes in its work.