Years & Years, Night Call | Album Review 💿

Years & Years – now comprised of only Olly Alexander – brings the heat in 2022 with a terrific third album, Night Call. 

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nce a three-person collective, British synthpop band 🎙 Years & Years is now a solo act by 🎙 Olly Alexander. Talk about going through changes, 🎙 Black Sabbath (or that rad cover by the late, great 🎙 Charles Bradley)! Despite the changes in the lineup, Olly totally got us 🎵 “Starstruck” in 2021 with the release of several singles in advance of 💿 Night Call.  Now with the arrival of their – well, his – third album, we remain totally starstruck!

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“Consequences” 

Night Call commences with a bang with 🤩 🎵 “Consequences.” “You, you lost what you had just as you found it / No matter what you heard / The consequences, you deserve.”  Oh, snap! On this fantastic opener, Olly Alexander tells this man he’s going to have to suffer the consequences for mishandling their relationship.  Olly admits he was blindly in love, essentially, but now his eyes have been opened (“Did I ever give a damn about the pain? / Did I ever really care who was to blame?”). Sleek production (🎛 Mark Ralph and 🎛 King Ed), awesome vocals, and relatable theme and lyrics make “Consequences” a kick-ass start to Night Call.

Standout single 🤩 🎵 “Starstruck” continues the excellence.  It was written by Alexander alongside 🎼✍ Clarence Coffee Jr., 🎼✍ 🎛 Mark Ralph, and 🎼✍ 🎛 Nathaniel Ledwidge.  Ralph and Ledwidge produce this bright-sounding, energetic pop cut. With a great backdrop behind him, Olly delivers assertive vocals that are colorful, nuanced, and filled with personality.  His tone is stunning. Olly also ‘puts in some work’ with his pen, delivering fun lyrics (“If I could bottle you up / I would sip ya like cosmic juice”). The centerpiece is the hella catchy chorus.  Furthermore, the brightness ascends to an even higher level.

“I can’t help it

I get starstruck around you

What can I do baby?”

Quite a relatable sentiment.  In addition to the love-centric lyrics, “Starstruck” is well organized regarding form.  All boxes are checked off:  strong vocals, catchy songwriting, and ear-catching production.

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“Night Call” 

🎵 “Night Call,” the title track, keeps the momentum going strong.  The sound of the record is electrifying, and literally, electronic.  The ear candy is decadent with a mix of softer and harder synths, not to mention the body-moving beat. Olly remains in command vocally, blessing us with those angelic tenor pipes.  What does his heart desire? A hunk who can make that “night call,” of course.  On the utterly sublime chorus, Olly admits, “I’m vibin’ on your dial tone / One thing on my brain, so ring me again.” Woo! 

“It’s too late to get off this road, I want ya / But I’m not one for casual intimacy.” Olly Alexander desires more than a casual, sexual relationship in the future on 🤩 🎵 “Intimacy”. Even so, for now, he wants this guy so much, he has no plans to stop ‘being with’ him. In the chorus, he continues, “Maybe one day something will change in me / Intimacy.” What’s interesting is that Olly views intimacy in two different ways.  Casual intimacy is associated with casual sex, which he references throughout “Intimacy” positively and negatively. “No need to be pampered to be your man,” Olly sings, continuing, “If all you got is under the covers then I’m good with that.”  Of course, he also desires something deeper, even if he’s giving mixed messages: “Your sex is heaven / As far as I’m concerned / I want you to stay / But I don’t want you to be another lesson learned.” “Intimacy” gives us the best of both worlds from Years & Years.  Sure, there’s awesome sex, but also, it explores going deeper transcending sex.

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“Crave”

Safe to say, on 🤩 🎵 “Crave,” the craving is S-T-R-O-N-G.  The first three lines out of Olly’s mouth: “You come in and out of my dreams / Fuck with my head / Making me crazy.” The thing is, the Years & Years frontman is spitting straight-up facts.  However, there’s more to it than mere fantasy. This man has caused Olly ample love pain, yet he craves it because he “don’t ever wanna replace all the heartache / For a dream come true / The only thing I crave is the pain from you.” Is that crazy? Yes, but as we all know and can sympathize, love is a crazy thing.  He masterfully captures its effects on “Crave,” another surefire gem from Night Call.

“Oh why, oh why, oh why do I listen / To promises, you’re gonna break.” Love proves to be a lesson on 🤩 🎵 “Sweet Talker”, a collaboration with 🎙 Galantis, who ‘put in work’ behind the boards (with help from 🎛 Mark Ralph, too). The backdrop is bright and exuberant.  Furthermore, the record is incredibly rhythmic, evidenced by the piano lines and the dizzying strings on the chorus.  With such a desirable backdrop, Olly Alexander has the perfect fuel for his fire on the sixth track from Night Call. “You wrote a romance, slow dance / Your way into my hands before I knew,” he sings in the first verse, continuing, “You found my deepest weakness / Couldn’t keep a secret that it was you.” Olly sings with a radiant, easygoing tone.  He’s enticed something fierce by this man, best evidenced on the chorus where he characterizes him as “sweet talker” yet is ultimately disappointed by fool’s gold: “You’re such a sweet talker / You made me believe / Every lie was a beautiful sound.” Alexander’s love interest may be no good, but this Y&Y record is terrific.

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“Sooner or Later” 

Apparently, the sweet-talking just won’t end anytime soon for Years & Years.  “Last night you slipped into my dream,” Olly Alexander sings in the first verse of 🎵 “Sooner or Later.”  He adds, “You tell me things I never could believe, no / I’ll take your words like ecstasy.” Truly, when we are enamored by someone, we’re willing to believe everything they say, even if it’s lies – total BS. On this awesome synthpop joint, Olly understands what he’s getting into, asserting “You’re a heartbreaker, you’ll be the death of me,” but also flipping the script when he sings, “But I’m gonna break ya, sooner or later.”

On 🎵 “20 Minutes,” Olly Alexander desires to experience a moment of love, #Mary J. Blige.  There are clearly mixed messages. Alexander claims he doesn’t want a new friend tonight yet he’s lonely. Furthermore, he’s skeptical about falling in love, yet is falling for this person simultaneously (“You’re the most beautiful creature / I feel something between me and you”).  While Alexander seems unsure of himself, what he wants, and what should or shouldn’t happen, it makes sense considering how confusing and unpredictable love can be.  Hence, “20 Minutes” is another winning moment from Night Call, an album, in its standard form, that is well-rounded without misses.

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“Strange and Unusual” 

“There’s a fire in the sky above me / And the light undress my soul.” Please, continue. “So naked and so lovely / I feel lighter than falsetto.” Damn! Prepare to feel sexy when partaking 🤩 🎵 “Strange and Unusual.” Woo! Olly Alexander’s love ‘confusion’ is our listening pleasure.  Essentially, Years & Years takes us on this atmospheric, out-of-body high regarding the universal four-letter word.  Matching the poetic, ‘strange’ lyrics is a unique backdrop (Ralph and Ledwidge, again) capturing the unusualness.  Music to the ears, period.

On penultimate record 🎵 “Make It Out Alive,” Olly Alexander struggles to get past an ex.  While “Make It Out Alive” is sounds bright, set in a major key, lyrically, it’s incredibly emotional.  His feeling for his ex-bf consumes him, and he doesn’t know how he gets past this. “All I ever see is blue / You are so hypnotisin’,” he sings in the second verse, adding, “The color of your eyes, I’ll never get over you.”  On 🎵 “See You Again,” Years & Years shift gears cleverly. Without commentary or context, it fits brilliantly with the love-driven nature of Night Call.  However, Olly explains this record was written about his grandmother who died in 2020.  Though she’s gone, he states, “I pretend / I’ll see, I’ll see you again.”

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Expanded Versions

In this review, I focused exclusively on the standard edition of Night Call.  That said, there are two deluxe editions, sure to excite Years & Years Stans!  The first, 💿 Night Call (Deluxe Version), the album expands to 16 tracks as opposed to 11.  Among the five additions are irresistible bops like 🎵 “Immaculate” and 🤩 🎵 “Muscle” (“‘Cause I wanna get into trouble

Look at all that, that, all that muscle”), as well as two 🎙 Kylie Minogue collabs, including a remix of “Starstruck”.  As for 💿 Night Call (New Year’s Edition), it adds seven tracks to the deluxe version with six being familiar.  🎵 “King,” 🎵 “Shine,” and 🎵 “Desire” reappear from 💿 Communion (2015), while 🎵 “If You’re Over Me”, 🎵 “Sanctify” and 🎵 “Play” reappear from the deluxe edition of 💿 Palo Santo (2019).  If you happened to partake of The Lockdown Sessions by 🎙 Elton John, you’ve also happened to hear the seventh track on New Year’s Edition, a fine cover of 🎙 The Cure’s 🤩 🎵 “It’s a sin”.

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Final Thoughts 💭

Whichever edition of Night Call you opt for, you’re sure to be pleased. Night Call is a terrific album and Years & Years delivers the goods.  Olly Alexander sings like an angel, authentically taking the listener through relatable issues with love whether it’s desire, ecstasy, or heartbreak.  The production supporting him is fantastic – we’d expect no less of a synthpop album from 2022.  Need bops? Y&Y has plenty of them, baby!

🤩 Gems 💎: “Consequences,” “Starstruck,” “Intimacy,” “Crave,” “Sweet Talker” & “Strange and Unusual”; “Immaculate” & “Muscle” (Deluxe); “It’s a sin” (New Year’s Edition)   

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🎙 Years & Years • 💿 Night Call • 🏷 Polydor • 🗓 1.21.22
[📷: Polydor]

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