Cruz Beckham
Released as Years & Years’ third album, ‘Night Call’ was also the first record from the project after it became Olly Alexander’s solo venture.
‘Night Call’ was released as a Years & Years album, but it was made after Years & Years had become Olly Alexander’s solo project. That is less a contradiction than an unusually tidy answer to a messy-looking catalogue question: the name on the release was Years & Years; Alexander was the project’s sole member by the time the album arrived on 21st January 2022.
Years & Years began as the trio of Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen. In March 2021, they announced that their next album would be an Olly Alexander endeavour and that Years & Years would continue as his solo project. Goldsworthy would remain part of the Years & Years live family, while Türkmen would concentrate on writing and production work.
The distinction matters because it avoids two misleading shortcuts. ‘Night Call’ was not a reunion-style album credited to the original three-piece, but neither was it issued under the name Olly Alexander. The established Years & Years identity remained in place for releases, charts and touring, while the creative project...