Thursday 13 February 2014

Years & Years - Real


A smoky neon-lit club room, a twisted card game and Ben Whishaw dancing like it’s his last night on Earth.

This is the video to Real, the latest track from London electro group Years & Years.  And Whishaw isn’t the only notable actor in the video, least of all the band’s frontman Olly Alexander who appeared in the most recent series of Skins.  As you might expect therefore, the band have a flair for the cinematic, something that spills into their music.

Real follows last year’s ‘Traps’ EP, both released by KitsunĂ©, though it’s a darker, more pop focused track that merges current trends for moody R&B, deep house and electro, a pulsing hand-clap beat driving the music beneath a yawning, surging bass line and Alexander’s impassioned vocal hooks.  If you imagine a more sinister Sam Smith singing Latch you’re part way there, Alexander’s lyrics the antithesis of Disclosure’s track detailing a torrid love affair that includes the line “I itch all night, I itch for you”.  Creepy.

The result is a darkly sensual club track with incredibly addictive pop hooks.  You will be dancing as ecstatically as Whishaw by the end of it, guaranteed.

4/5

Listen: Real is released on 17th February.