Years & Years share new album ‘Palo Santo’, out now + Watch ‘Palo Santo’ short film (starring Judi Dench and Ben Wishaw)
New album ‘Palo Santo’ out now
Polydor Records
Watch the ‘Palo Santo’ short film (starring Judi Dench and Ben Wishaw) now
New single – ‘If You’re Over Me’ – goes Top 10
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Arena Tour also confirmed
“It’s probably not what anyone expects a male pop star to do in 2018. But listening to the astute, convincingly ambitious Palo Santo, you wish more of them would”
The Guardian ****
“Olly Alexander is a pop icon for this generation” Independent 4/5
“A pure pop bullseye…entirely disarming” Q Magazine 4/5
“It’s brilliant pop music filled with heart, soul, tears and glitter” Time Out 4/5
“Palo Santo is transcendent” Stereogum
“A stunning, complete work… an almost unheard of motherlode that sets a new high bar” Dork 6/5
“Sure-footed, supercharged second album for electronic pop trio” Mojo 4/5
“My favourite pop record of the decade” Attitude 5/5
“Olly Alexander is Britain’s most exciting popstar” The Times
Today, Years & Years release their hugely-anticipated second album ‘Palo Santo’. ‘Palo Santo’ comes accompanied by a bold short film of the same title, directed by Fred Rowson and starring Olly Alexander, Dame Judi Dench, Ben Wishaw and cult Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm. Surrounding these releases, the successful new single ‘If You’re Over Me’ has now reached Top 10, and news of the band’s massive UK and European tour later this year – including a date at London’s O2 Arena.
‘Palo Santo’ was created from the imagination of singer Olly Alexander, where he could be his “freest self, not tied to a gender or sexuality.” In this thrilling parallel universe, light years from here, Palo Santo has steadily been revealed to the world in a series of videos, narratives on and offline, finally climaxing in every sense of the word by way of their recently revealed live show, and newly released short film and album, out today.
‘Palo Santo’ takes its name from a sacred wood but in the band’s new film, ‘Palo Santo’ has come to represent more, as part of a densely woven backstory, in which Palo Santo is a city on a distant planet; one where human beings are a rare commodity, worshipped and idolized by an android society. Olly, along with other humans, is recruited to perform in a series of bizarre erotic cabarets, for an artificial master known only as The Showman. Introduced in the videos to ‘Sanctify’ and ‘If You’re Over Me’, the short film expands on the stories teased there. It is also a reunion of sorts for Olly, Judi and Ben, who all starred in a London production of John Logan’s play ‘Peter & Alice’ back in 2013.
Watch the ‘Palo Santo’ short film
A band always intuitively connected to great, homespun British pop classicism, ‘Palo Santo’ is an album that confirms Years & Years’ ascension to the world stage. At the core of it all is Olly Alexander, a once-in-a-generation front-man who understands more than most his responsibility as a pop star. His personal leap forward in scope and ambition is reflected in the album’s colorful mix of collaborators, which range from Kid Harpoon, Greg Kurstin, Julia Michaels and Justin Trantor to Steve Mac, Jessie Shatkin and Sarah Hudson. On ‘Palo Santo’, Years & Years’ impact on pop feels truly tribal, one in which the minority is always the majority, and everyone is welcome.
Including both ‘Sanctify’ and current top 10 single ‘If You’re Over Me’ you can listen to the full album HERE.
Years & Years will spend the rest of the year bringing the wonderful world of ‘Palo Santo’ to life in all corners of the globe, and are set to play massive shows in the UK, Korea and Japan to name just a few with a US tour looming for the autumn too. The UK arena tour dates are below, their full list is HERE
Years & Years – Headline Tour
28/11 The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
29/11 O2 Apollo, Manchester
30/11 Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
04/12 Brighton Centre, Brighton
05/12 The O2 Arena, London
25/01 AFAS Live, DS Amsterdam-Zuidoost
26/01 Sporthalle Hamburg, Hamburg
28/01 TAP1, Copenhagen
29/01 Sentrum Scene, Oslo
30/01 Annexet, Stockholm
01/02 Torwar Arena, Warsaw
03/02 Zenith, Munich
04/02 Fabrique, Milan
06/02 Palladium, Köln
07/02 Lotto Arena, Belgium
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