YEARS & YEARS
Night Call POLYDOR
Third album from Olly Alexander’s repurposed pop vehicle
6/10
Now reduced from a trio to a one-man operation (plus songwriting/ production help), Years & Years have simplified their sound on this follow-up to 2018’s concept set Palo Santo. It aims directly for the melodic jugular on the euphoric synthpop of the title track and “Starstruck”, while the piano house underlay and sweeping orchestral decoration of “Sweet Talker” lifts the vibe a further notch, and “20 Minutes” is a sweetly romantic anthem. Too often, though, good-not-great tunes can’t quite make up for generic song structures and performances that seem to have lost a certain charismatic shine during the downsizing operation.