Years & Years had the kind of debut album experience most bands can only dream of – massive hit singles, commercial and critical success, and an instantly devoted fanbase attending sold-out shows worldwide. With their frontman Olly Alexander claiming a unique space as a rare queer performer in the mainstream, Years & Years seemed like the signal of something new in pop music.
That, of course, can lead to increased expectations and often difficult second albums. Thankfully the group’s follow-up to 2015’s Communion, Palo Alto takes the building blocks of their effervescent electro-pop sound and takes it to new places.