On February 17, London electronic pop three-piece Years & Years released their sophomore single, the slow-burning, groovesome ‘Real’, via much-lauded indie dance imprint Kitsuné. The release also features self-produced B-side ‘Eyes Shut’, a more sombre take on the band’s sound, and a surrealist Lynchian video for ‘Real’ that features rising British actors Ben Wishaw and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett.
 
Frontman and keyboardist Olly Alexander comes from a classicist musical upbringing, drawing upon iconic figures such as Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley, via the surrealist imagery of David Lynch and the dirty realism of Raymond Carver. The former qualities are wrapped in his distinctively dulcet tones, which Disorder described as “Nina Simone…crooning a melodic lullaby to the folktronic lovechild of Beach House and Terry Riley”. Olly has just returned from Sundance Film Festival in Utah in support of his role as the lead in the upcoming Belle and Sebastian musical which also saw him open for the band at their secret show.
 
The group is by no means a one-man affair; it’s down to Years & Years’ two other members – bassist Mikey Goldsworthy and synth player/beat-maker Emre Turkmen – to truly bring the tracks to brilliant life. Using an idiosyncratic process that takes Alexander’s timeless songwriting and updates it with a love of cutting-edge electronic music and R&B (think FKA twigs, SOHN, Jai Paul) that is then finished off with a final collaborative output.
 
Having featured as Zane Lowe’s next hype and picking up radio support from Phil and Alice, Edith Bowman and 1xtra’s Sarah Jane Crawford ‘Real’ has now amassed over 240,000 plays and gaining a Number 1 spot on Hype Machine’s popular chart in the process, making it safe to say there’s never been a better time to catch on with Years & Years.
 
With a debut album now in the works and a follow-up single due this summer Years & Years will now be hitting the road.
 
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