Olly Alexander - Polari

smellycat

smellycat

This has pleasantly surprised me and I’m glad I gave it a listen. I was very close to ignoring it after the diminishing returns of the previous album.

The Erasure, Michael Jackson, George Michael etc vibe is so apparent across it. I’m also hearing a lot of Savage Garden/Darren Hayes’ Homosexual, which isn’t surprising given he has a similar well of musical influences.
 
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Nadine Is My BFF

Nadine Is My BFF

He/him
Language, When We Kiss and Beautiful are the holy trinity of this album for me. Those three have become some of my favourite Olly/Y&Y songs already.

Language is a really interesting closer, it has a really gloomy/sad but desperate for optimism type of juxtaposition to it and the production really plays into this. That intense intro, then the way it dies down but then builds up to the middle 8 and final chorus. It’s really quite beautiful.
 
goldfish

goldfish

MidnightMissSuki said:
Dare I say it .. I really do think Eurovision damaged the publics perception of him. It’s really sad as it is a fantastic pop album.
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I think you’re right but also there’s a lot of talk about how he left/abandoned/rebranded Years & Years. Seen a lot of that whole British “he thinks he’s better than them” vibe online. But yeah I’d say mostly the “Eurovision flop” is more at play.
 
AlmostMidnight

AlmostMidnight

Down to 12 in the midweeks. I honestly thought at least top 5 was a given. Guess the label aren’t as invested if they know it’s the final release in the contract.
 
R

Redout

I think the GP stopped caring way before eurovision. He openly said he was doing eurovision to essentially "revive" his career saying that he isn't someone like dua lipa with millions of streams a day and saw the success (in the charts) of Sam and Mae which swayed him
 
minorkey

minorkey

By the third album he's lost his edge with the Capital FM chart-chasing singles. Eurovision was yet another bid for a hit (since it worked for Mae Muller the year before). He got what he wanted - a number one album, but in return any remaining street cred for Years & Years evaporated. To be fair he's been in the business for about 12 years which is already longer lasting than most pop acts.
 
RainOnFire

RainOnFire

Staff member
When We Kiss is my favourite thing he's done in years so I really wanted to love the album, but it's just alright? When We Kiss towers over the rest for me. The title track is like a Janet Control track updated for 2025 so therefore it's amazing, but a minute-and-a-half runtime is immediate grounds for electric chair. I like a few others (Language, Archangel, Beautiful, I Know) but overall I'm not entirely sold.
 
Mikal

Mikal

Danny L Harle's production is a real upgrade on Mark Ralph. I think some of these songs are not fully baked and some quite overcooked but Miss You So Much is fantastic. Just the right amount of kitsch and he does enough vocally.

Make Me a Man... I need that Nicole Kidman gif. Too much going on. And Shadow of Love's chorus needed work. At least the album is less of a sleepwalk than Night Call sonically, call it a Love + Fear-to-Ancient Dreams level-up.

Still it feels like he's just not able to present a coherent vision of himself artistically. Which might not be a problem for some popstars, but because Years & Years started so assuredly, everything that's followed has felt like... none of that was Olly.

That Switch song Emre and Mikey are teasing sounds hot! I'll take that.
 
idratherjack

idratherjack

This album is so good. New songs are revealing themselves to me the more I play it. When We Kiss, Make Me A Man, Archangel and Miss You So Much were the initial standouts but Beautiful, Heal You and Language are up there now too. The title track is great, so Janet Jackson Control era, that I can't help wish it was a fully realised song rather than an intro. This is my favourite Olly album.
 
AllyJB

AllyJB

He/Him
Still waiting for Banquet to ship my signed cd & Vinyl. These seems to be becoming a habit with them.

Also I’d say #17 is pretty good condisering there hasn’t been much noise surrounding the album.
 
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