The Verdict | Pocketmags.com

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The Verdict

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.

“He kept going, ‘It’s not good, it’s not good’. And I said, ‘Well, if you want it better, get somebody else’, and I walked out.”

There’s a maturity and cinematic feel to tracks like album opener ‘Sanctify’ and the swirling, complex atmosphere of the title track. ‘Rendez Vous’ is sleek and sexy, putting the kind of dance pop that’s the purview of Kylie et al under a new kind of queer lens. ‘Karma’ is a reminder of how Olly Alexander’s vocals can sway in a pleasing R’n’B direction, while ‘Hallelujah’ is urgent, hard-to-ignore pop magic.

Over a lean run-time, Years & Years use Palo Santo to widen out the kind of pop magic they can create in a way that will surely delight their existing fan-base and extend their dominance as one of the most engaging and exciting bands in pop music.

This article appears in 345

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