Years & Years’ Olly Alexander makes his mystical fantasy a dance-pop reality
thefader.comGrowing up, Olly Alexander was enthralled by the mythology and folklore of fairy tales. He grew up in the Forest of Dean, in South West England, and worked at Moonstones, a shop specializing in the sale of witches’ books and crystals.
Over time, and through the influence of films like David Bowie’s Labyrinth, the Years & Years frontman took note of the way identity functioned differently in fantasy realms. “I think it's such a great way of storytelling because we all have a relationship to these creatures or these myths,” he tells The FADER over Zoom from London.
On Night Call, Years & Years' third album and the first since the band became his solo project, Alexander transforms into one of the fairy tale creatures he loved the most — the siren, whose voice could lure sailors to their demise on jagged rocks.
Gone are Alexander’s days of writing himself into the role of the heartbroken and yearning victim; now he’s the one tempting less-than-ingeniuous men to danger.
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