Years & Years Premiere Epic New Single “Sanctify”: A Must-Listen (Music Video Added)
Years & Years are back!
The synthpop English band released their new single “Sanctify” on digital platforms worldwide last night (right after a quick ‘first listen’ premiere on BBC Radio 1 in the UK). The song is the first single from the Olly Alexander-led band’s forthcoming, much-anticipated second studio album, which will be released later in 2018 via Polydor/Interscope Records and will be serve as the follow-up to Years & Years’ 2015 debut album “Communion”. 3 years and no new album? That needed to end immediately!
On the idea behind the song, Olly said: “I’ve had a couple of, let’s say, ‘encounters’ with guys who identify as straight but what has happened between us has been somewhat less than straight, so I wanted to write a song about that particular experience – so that’s what inspired the song’s lyrics.”
I’m just fascinated by Olly’s straightforward answer! Good for him. And congratulations are truly in order; “Sanctify” is just a brilliant song. That chorus is definition of epic.
The music video for “Sanctify” premiered on VEVO last night at the same time as the single release (see below).
WATCH MUSIC VIDEO
The slave to an android society? Oh wow!
Olly elaborated on the music video’s concept:
“I want to take people on a wild and wonderful adventure through my dreams to a world that’s very different from our own,” says Olly. “I’ve been thinking about this place for a long time, a place to tell stories from; about identity, sexuality, celebrity and performance."
“The video for ‘Sanctify’ centres around an audition against the backdrop of a future metropolis called Palo Santo. It’s the first part of a bigger jigsaw puzzle and my hope is that it confuses the hell out of people but also excites them in a mysterious and sensual way."
“We’ve deliberately hidden lots of different meanings and I want people to come up with their own interpretations, I’m asking people to jump down the rabbit hole with me and let their imagination run free. The thing I love most about pop music has always been fantasy and escapism so I thought, ‘Well I guess I should try and be the pop star I want to see in the world and make the most ambitious and freaky and sexy thing possible.’"
“I’m making these videos because I want to let people inside my brain and because I love living in my own fantasy world (always have, always will) – a place where sexuality and gender are blurred and magic is real. We live in a chaotic and accelerating world, we’re looking at depictions of the future to help us make sense of what’s happening right now."
“This is my vision of a possible future, one that makes us question what it means to be a human.”