Years & Years

Years & Years
Origin [South Africa ]
Genres
Years active 2010–present
Labels
Associated acts The Magician
Website yearsandyearsofficial.com
Members Olly Alexander
Mikey Goldsworthy
Emre Turkmen
Past members Noel Leeman
Olivier Subria

Years & Years are a British electronica trio founded in London. The group consists of frontman and keyboardist Olly Alexander, bassist Mikey Goldsworthy and synth player Emre Turkmen.[1] Years & Years' music has been described as electropop, mixing R&B and '90s house elements, with Flying Lotus, Diplo, Radiohead and Jai Paul being their core influences.[2]

Career

Early years

The band formed in 2010, after Goldsworthy moved to London from Australia and met Turkmen online.[3] Shortly afterwards, Alexander joined the band as lead vocalist after Goldsworthy heard him singing in the shower.[4] The band was originally a five-piece group, with Noel Leeman and Olivier Subria.[5] Leeman left the band in 2013.[6]

2012–present: Communion

Years & Years' debut single "I Wish I Knew" was released in July 2012 on the label Good Bait, with the band performing as a five-piece group.[7] In 2013 the group signed to French label Kitsuné Records as a three-piece and released their second single "Traps" in September 2013.[8] Their third single "Real" was released via Kitsuné in February 2014 and its music video featured an appearance from Alexander’s Peter and Alice costar, Ben Whishaw, and former Misfits actor Nathan Stewart-Jarrett.[2]

In 2014 the group signed to Polydor Records and released their fourth single "Take Shelter". The EP reached the number 1 spot on the iTunes UK Singles Electronic Chart.[9] In December 2014, the group's fifth single "Desire" was released, peaking at No. 22 on the UK singles chart.[10] In January 2015, Years & Years' sixth single "King" was previewed on BBC Radio 1, selected as Zane Lowe's Hottest Record of the day.[11] In March 2015, the single reached number 1 on the Official UK Chart.

In January 2015, Years & Years won the prestigious BBC Sound of 2015.[12] Years & Years were also nominated for the Critics Choice Award at the Brit Awards 2015[13] Their single "King", released on 1 March, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 8 March 2015.

On March 18, 2015 Years & Years announced their debut album Communion. The album is to be released on 22 June 2015 by Polydor.[14]

Members

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
[15]
Communion TBR

Extended plays

Title Details
Traps
  • Released: 9 September 2013
  • Label: Kitsuné France
Real
  • Released: 17 February 2014
  • Label: Kitsuné France
Take Shelter
  • Released: August 2014
  • Label: Copenhagen Records / Polydor
Desire (Remixes)
  • Released: 21 November 2014
  • Label: Copenhagen Records / Polydor
Y & Y EP
  • Released: 3 February 2015
  • Label: Copenhagen Records / Polydor

Singles

As lead artist

Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[15]
AUS
[16]
AUT
[17]
BEL
(FL)

[18]
DEN
[19]
GER
[20]
IRE
[21]
NL
[22]
SCO
[23]
SWI
[24]
2012 "I Wish I Knew" N/A
2013 "Traps"
2014 "Real" Communion
"Take Shelter" 140 53
"Desire" 22 57 20
2015 "King" 1 9 8 11 6 9 3 5 1 9
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[15]
AUS
[16]
BEL
(FL)

[18]
FRA
[27]
IRE
[21]
NL
[22]
SCO
[23]
2014 "Sunlight"
(The Magician featuring Years & Years)
7 20 7 184 57 37 7 N/A
"Illuminate"
(Tourist featuring Years & Years)
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[15]
"Worship" 2015 168 Communion

Music videos

Title Year Director Notes Ref.
"I Wish I Knew" 2012 Ayshea Halliwell [30]
"Real" 2014 Robert Francis Müller Features Ben Whishaw and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett [31]
"Take Shelter" Features Emily Browning [32]
"Desire" Sing J Lee [33]
"King" 2015 Nadia [34]

Awards and nominations

Year Organisation Award Work Result
2014 Popjustice Popjustice £20 Music Prize 2014 "Take Shelter" Shortlisted[35]
BPI Critics Choice Award N/A Shortlisted[36]
2015 BBC BBC Sound of 2015 Won
MTV MTV Brand New For 2015 Lost[37]

References

  1. "Years & Years". Last.fm. 28 October 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Baggs, Michael (20 May 2014). "Years & Years talk tours, 'Real' success, their mums and more". Gigwise.
  3. O'Brien, George (20 February 2014). "Introducing Years & Years". The Line Of Best Fit.
  4. Rudick, Clarke (9 April 2014). "Real Talk with Tears & Years". Opening Ceremony.
  5. "Years & Years". Indie Shuffle. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  6. "Years & Years Live At Rescue Rooms". Rescue Rooms. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  7. "Years & Years – I Wish I Knew". The Music Ninja. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  8. Cragg, George (7 August 2013). "Years & Years – Traps: New music". The Guardian.
  9. Etheart, Zac. "Passing time with Years & Years". Interview (magazine).
  10. "YEARS & YEARS". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  11. "Years & Years - King". Radio 1. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  12. Youngs, Ian (2015-01-09). "BBC News - Years & Years top BBC Sound Of 2015 list". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  13. Singh, Anita (2015-01-15). "Brit Awards nominations list 2015: year of the male". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  14. "Years & Years on Twitter: OK you can now pre-order our debut album Communion out 22-06-15". Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  16. 16.0 16.1 "Discography Years & Years". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien.
  17. "Discographie Years & Years". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien.
  18. 18.0 18.1 "Discografie Years & Years". ultratop.be (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  19. "Discography Years & Years". danishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
  20. "Chartverfolgung / Years & Years / Single". musicline.de (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  21. 21.0 21.1 "Discography Years & Years". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien.
  22. 22.0 22.1 "Discografie Years & Years". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
  24. "Discographie Years & Years". swisscharts.com (in Swiss German). Hung Medien.
  25. "Certified Awards Search" (TO ACCESS, ENTER THE SEARCH PARAMETER "YEARS & YEARS" AND SELECT "SEARCH"). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  26. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  27. "Discographie Years & Years". lescharts.com. Hung Medien.
  28. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  29. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2015". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  30. "Years & Years - I Wish I Knew". Vimeo. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  31. "Years & Years 'Real' by Robert Francis Müller". Promo News. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  32. "Take Shelter (2014)". IMVDB. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  33. "Years & Years 'Desire' by Sing J Lee". Promo News. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  34. "Premiere: Years And Years Dance Like They’re Possessed In Sia-Esque New Music Video". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  35. "The 2014 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: as it happened". Popjustice. Popjustice Ltd. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  36. "Brit Awards 2015: James Bay wins Critics' Choice prize". The Independent (The Independent). Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  37. "MTV BRAND NEW FOR 2015". MTV UK. MTV. Retrieved 3 December 2014.

External links