Years and Years, Heaven

Actor forms a band, releases an album to no great acclaim. The past decade can lay claim to at least a dozen such stories. But Years & Years, fronted by the 24-year old thespian Olly Alexander, give lie to the notion that such genre-hopping is doomed to failure. While he’s proven himself excellent on stage and film, as a singer he’s exquisite, with a silky falsetto that curls around his bandmates’ house-inflected music.
Although the band’s reputation rests on a handful of knockout singles and EPs for French electro stalwarts Kitsune, their gig in Charing Cross’ legendary Heaven will coincide with the projected release of their debut album.
After dropping out of school, Alexander moved to London at the age of 18 and soon embarked on a successful acting career. On stage, he’s played alongside Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw in Michael Grandage’s production of Peter and Alice; in film he’s appeared in the final episodes of teen drama Skins. Most recently, he starred as one of Laura Wade’s obnoxious Buller boys in The Riot Club. Music was always his passion, though, and after bassist Mike Goldsworthy heard him singing in the shower they immediately went about enlisting synth-player Emre Turkmen and formed the band.
First single ‘I Wish I Knew’ opens with Alexander’s dulcet tones before hip-hop beats, bobbing synths and introspective guitars create an utterly contemporary fusion of R&B, house and indie. Follow-up ‘Traps’, which announced the band to music publications, mainstream newspapers and BBC Radio alike, fleshed out the formula to great effect. With each release, the band’s sound has developed into something funkier, more danceable – ‘Take Shelter’ and ‘Real,’ both recorded in 2014, sit equally at home in the gig venue and the club. Whatever Years & Years come up with next, it promises to confirm their position as one of the UK’s most exciting new acts.